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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: "Thomson Steve" <tomsteve001@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 00:02:23 +0000
Subject: YOUR ASSISTANCE

NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION
FALOMO OFFICE COMPLEX,LAGOS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the disk of: DR TOM STEVE.B,sc(UNN)M.sc Ph.D.
MANAGER 11,BUDGET AND PLANNING
THE PRESIDENT/CEO
DEAR SIR,
WE ARE SENDING THIS LETTER TO YOU BASED ON INFORMATION GATHERED FROM THE
FORIEGN TRADE OFFICE OF THE NIGERIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.WE
BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD BE IN A POSITION TO HELP US IN OUR BID TO TRANSFER
THE SUM OF FORTY-ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS($41.5M USD)INTO A
FOREIGN ACCOUNT.
WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE FOR BUDGET AND PLANNING OF THE
MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM,THIS COMMITTEE IS PRINCIPALLY CONCERNED WITH CONTRACT
APPRAISALS AND APPROVAL OF CONTRACTS IN ORDER OF PRIORITIES AS REGARDS
CAPITEL PROJECT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA.WITH OUR POSITIONS,WE
HAVE SUCCESSFULY SECURED FOR OURSELVES THE SUM OF FORTY-ONE MILLION,FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS.THIS AMOUNT WAS ACCUMULATED THROUGH
UNDECLARED WINDFALL FROM SALES OF CRUDE OIL DURING THE GULF WAR.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU IS TO PROVIDE A SAFE ACCOUNT INTO WHICH THE FUNDS WILL
BE TRANSFERED SINCE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ARE NOT ALLOWED BY OUR LAWS TO
OPERATE FOREIGN ACCOUNT .IT HAS BEEN AGREED THAT THE OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT
WILL BE COMPENSATED WITH US$8.3 MILLION OF THE REMITTED FUNDS.OUR SHARE WILL
BE US$31.125 MILLION WHILE US$2.075 MILLION WILL BE SET ASIDE TO OFFSET
EXPENSES INCURED FROM BOTH ENDS.
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT TWO YEARS AGO A SIMILAR TRANSACTION WAS
CARRIED OUT WITH ONE MR PATRICE MILLER.THE PRESIDENT OF CRAINE INTERNATIONAL
TRADEING CORPORATION AT NUMBER 135,EAST 57TH STREET,28TH FLOOR,NEW
YORK.10022 WITH TELEPHONE(212)308-7788 AND TELEX NUMBER 6731689.AFTER THE
AGREEMENT BETWEEN BOTH PARTNERS IN WHICH HE WAS TO TAKE 5% THE MONEY WAS
DULY TRANSFERRED INTO HIS ACCOUNT ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED ON OUR ARRIVAL IN
NEW YORK AS MR PATRICE MILLER WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND,THAT IS HOW WE LOST
US$27.5M TO MR PATRICE MILLER.
THIS TIME AROUND WE NEED A MORE RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON OR COMPANY
TO DO BUSINESS WITH,SO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS DEAL THEN WE ARE
PREPARED TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU.
IF THIS PROPOSAL SATISFIES YOU ,PLEASE EMAIL YOUR RESPONSE SO THAT WE CAN
ADVICE YOU ON THE MODALITIES OF THIS TRANSACTION .ONCE STARTED,IT WILL NOT
TAKE MORE THAN 14 WORKING DAYS WITH THE ABSOLUTE OF ALL CONCERNED.
PLEASE TREAT AS URGENT AND VERY CONFIDENTIAL AND REPLY TO THIS EMAIL
tomsteve202@yahoo.com,FAX :234-1-7594325,TEL NO:234-8O-34060918
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
DR TOM STEVE.


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