joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
 Free trial for 30 days
   jwSpamSpy
Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "willson udefi" <willsonudefi@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 02:26:46 +0000
Subject: urgent reply

my NAME willson udefi

Lagos Nigeria.


ATTN:SIR/MADAM.

CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL

RE: TRANSFER OF US$121.5 MILLION (ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE MILLION,FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY).

I AM A MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA CONRACT AWARD AND
MONITORING COMMITTEE IN NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION
(NNPC)SOMETIME AGO,MY COMMITTE AWARDED A CONTRACT TO FOREIGNS FIRM IN
NNPC.THIS CONTRACTS WERE OVER INVOICED TO THE TUNE OF US$121.5M THIS WAS
DONE DELIBERATELY .THE OVER INVOICING WAS A DEAL BY MY COMMITTEE TO BENEFIT
FROM THE PROJECT.WE NOW WANT TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY, WHICH IS IN A SUSPENSE
ACCOUNT WITH NNPC IN TO ANY OVERSEAS ACCOUNT WHICH WE EXPECTED YOU TO
PROVIDE FOR US .

SHARE: - FOR PROVIDING THE ACCOUNT WHERE WE SHALL REMIT THE MONEY INTO, YOU
WILL BE ENTITLED TO 25% OF THE MONEY.65% WILL BE FOR ME AND MY PARTNERS
WHILE 5% HAS BEEN MAPPED OUT FROM THE SUM TO COVER ANY EXPENSES THAT MAY BE
INCURRED BY US DURING THE COURSE OF THIS TRANSFER,BOTH LOCALLY AND
INTERNATIONAL EXPENSIVES.

TO COMMERCE THIS DEAL THEREFORE, I WOULD REQUIRED THE FOLLOWING:

1.YOUR COMPANY'S NAME, ADDRESS, TEL & FAX NUMBERS.

2.YOUR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER AND ADDRESS WHERE THE MONEY WILL BE REMITTED.

THE ABOVE INFORMATION WOULD BE USED TO MAKE FORMAL APPLICATIONS AS A MATTER
OF PROCEDURE FOR THE RELEASE OF THE MONEY AND ONWARD TRANFER TO YOUR
ACCOUNT.IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER OR NOT YOUR COMPANY DOES CONTRACT OF THIS
NATURE .THE ASSUMPTION IS THAT YOUR COMPANY WON THE MAJOR CONTRACT AND
SUBCONTRACTED IT OUT TO OTHER COMPANIES.BIG TRADING COMPANIES OR FIRMS WIN
MAJOR CONTRACTS AND SUBLET TO MORE SPECIALIZED FIRMS FOR EXECUTION.

WE HAVE STRONG RELIABLE CONNECTIONS AND CONTACTS AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF
NIGERIA AS WELL AS THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT
ALL THE MONEY WILL BE RELEASED AND TRANSFERED IF WE GET VIBRANT FOREIGN
PARTNER TO ASSIST US IN THIS DEAL. THEREFORE,WHEN THE BUSINESS IS
SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED WE SHALL THROUGH OUR SAME CONNECTIONS WITHDRAW ALL
DOCUMENTS USED FROM ALL THE CONCERNED GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES FOR 100%
SECURITY.

WE ARE ORDINARY CIVIL SERVANTS AND WE WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS ONCE IN A
LIFE TIME OPPURTUNITY TO GET RICH.I WANT THIS MONEY TO BE TRANSFERED TO AN
OVERSEA ACCOUNT YOU WILL PROVIDE FOR US,BEFORE THIS PRESENT DEMOCRATIC
GORVEMENT STARTS AUDITING ALL FEDERAL OWNED MINISTRIES.

PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY THROUGH MY TEL/FAX NUMBER WHETHER OR
NOT,INTRESTED IN THIS DEAL. IF YOU ARE NOT, IT WILL ENABLE ME SORT FOR
ANOTHER FOREIGN PARTNER TO CARRY OUT THIS DEAL. WHERE YOU ARE INTERESTED,
SEND THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AFOREMENTIONED HEREIN THROUGH MY ABOVE TEL/FAX
NUMBER AS TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE IN THIS BUSINESS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

willson udefi


Anti-fraud resources: