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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: "barry lawal" <barry@blawalinternational.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 11:01:03 +0000
Subject: GET BACK TO ME NOW.

 BARRY & ASSOCIATES.
(BARRISTER BARRY LAWAL)
SOLICITORS AND ADVOCATE
#16 CANAL STREET IKOYI
(LAGOS NIGERIA.)
TEL; 234-1452565
FAX-234-1-452565
CELL;234-80-52376191

DEAR FRIEND,

BEFORE I START, I MUST FIRST APOLOGIZE FOR THIS UNSOLICITED MAIL TO
YOUI AM AWARE THAT THIS IS CERTAINLY AN UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH TO
STARTING A RELATIONSHIP, BUT AS TIME GOES ON YOU WILL REALIZE THE NEED FOR MY
ACTION. MY NAME IS BAR.BARRY LAWAL, A SOLICITOR AND THE PERSONAL
ATTORNEY TO MR.ROLAND, A CITIZEN OF YOUR COUNTRY, WHO WORKED WITH AN OIL
COMPANY IN NIGERIA.HERE IN AFTER REFERRED TO AS MY CLIENT. ON THE 21ST
OF APRIL 2000, MY CLIENT, HIS WIFE AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN WERE
INVOLVED IN A GHOSTLY MOTOR ACCIDENT ALONG SAGAMU EXPRESS ROAD. MY CLIENT AND
HIS ENTIRE FAMILY UNFORTUNATELY LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE ACCIDENT.

SINCE THEN I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES TO YOUR EMBASSY TO LOCATE ANY
OF MY CLIENT'S EXTENDED RELATIVES, WHICH HAS PROVED ABORTIVE AFTER
THESE SEVERAL UNSUCESSFUL ATTEMPTS, THE NEED TO CONTACT YOU.MY MAIN REASON
FOR CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME INREPATRIATING THE MONEY AND
PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND BY MY CLIENT BEFORE THEY ARE CONFISCATED OR DECLARED
UNSERVICEABLE BY THE BANK WHERE THEY ARE DEPOSITED/LODGED. PARTICULARLY, THE
UNION BANK OF (NIG) PLC. WHERE THE DECEASED HAS A FIXED SUM OF EIGHTEEN
MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS.THE SAID BANK HAS ISSUED ME A FINAL
NOTICE TO PROVIDE THE NEXT OF KIN OF MY LATE CLIENT OR THEY WILL BE LEFT
WITH NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO CONFISCATE HIS FUNDS,A COPY OF THE SAID
NOTICE WHICH I WILL FAX TO YOU ON GETTING YOUR REPLY.

SINCE I HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOCATING MY CLIENT'S RELATIVES FOR
THE PAST 2 YEARS, NOW I SEEK YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF
KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT GOING BY THE FACT THAT BOTH OF YOU ARE OF THE SAME
SURE NAME AND NATIONALITY, SO THAT THE SAID FUNDS AS STATED ABOVE I.E,
THE SUM OF EIGHTEEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS CAN BE PAID INTO YOUR
ACCOUNT INSTEAD OF LEAVING IT FOR UNION BANK OF (NIG) PLC.

WE CAN TAKE PART OF IT AND LEAVE THE REST TO CHARITY. I HAVE ALL
NECESSARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BEUSED TO BACK UP ANY CLAIM WE MAY MAKE
ALL I REQUIRE IS YOUR HONEST CO-OPERATION TO ENABLE US SEE THIS
ARRANGMENT THROUGH I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE
ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW. PLEASE GIVE
ME YOUR CONFIDENTAIL PHONE/FAX NUMBERS SO THAT I CAN FAX TO YOU ALL
THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BANK AND ME.


BEST REGARDS,

BARRISTER Barry lawal [ESQ].

--

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