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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mercuria Oil & Gas Corporation" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lawrencespencer01@qq.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2014 19:44:51 -0700
Subject: Your Urgency is needed for this Deal (Operations Manager Mercuria Oil & Gas)

ATTN: To Whom it may Concern,
 
My name is Engr. Lawrence Spencer, I am the Operations Manager with Mercuria Oil & Gas in
Switzerland .One of our clients, Dr.Steve Cole , a national of your country, A Contractor
and Oil Merchant, but resident here in Zurich, Switzerland; whom I happened to be his
personal manager and could be refered to as my Chief Executive.
 
On December 22,2012, my Chief Executive, his wife and their only daughter were involved in a
accident involved with another car, in the express high. All occupants of the vehicle
unfortunately lost there lives. Since then I have made several inquiries to his high commission to locate any of my clients
extended Relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful
attempts, I decided to trace his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his
family; hence I contacted you. I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund of
$65.07 Million (United States Dollars) he had deposited with the Zuercher Kantonal Bank in
Switzerland before the car accident. I want your assistance in this regard before this
deposited fund gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the government ofSwitzerland.
 
Right now, Zuercher Kantonal Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin within
the next 21 working days, or have the fund confiscated by the government of Switzerland. We
are talking about the sum of $65.07Million United States Dollars, this is a guarantee we
shall pull this through, because i have insider here, we shall share this money
30% - 20% -30% - 10% - 10%
 
30% will be for me, that is a total of $19,500,000 Million Dollars
20% will for the bank manager, that is a total of $13,000,000 Million Dollars
30% will be for you for receiving the money, which is $19,500,000 Million Dollars
10% will be for the Lawyer involved, which is total $6,500,000 Million Dollars
10% will given to you for any expenses you spend for this deal is $6,500,000 Million Dollars
 
Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for few months now, I seek your
consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased, so that this fund could be
released to you and we will have reputation to negotiate on a business been favourable.
All I require is your honest and cooperation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee
that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and me from
any breach of the law. The money will be transferred to your account without no traces,
this is because the bank mananger is also involved in this deal, we need to make this
money, the Christmas is almost near.
 
NOTE: All correspondence between you and I should be made through this email address for
security reasons, and also indicate your private contact information.
KINDLY CONFIRM THE BELOW INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR ASSESSMENT.
Full Legal Name:
Address Not P.O. Box:
City:
State:
Zip code:
Phone Number:
Country:
Sex:
Age:
Banking Details:
Scan Copy of your Drivers Lincense or International Passport:
 
 
As as you receive the money, you take your share and you spilt the remaining share into our
accounts just as the percentage we agreed on above.
 
I look forward to recieve a favourable response from you.
 
Best regards.
 
Engr. Lawrence Spencer
Operations Manager Mercuria Oil & Gas,
http://www.mercuria.com/
Switzerland

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