joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "huge deposit" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: johnego@emsergipe.com <johnego@emsergipe.com>
Reply-To: egomusa2005@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 09:43:09 -0300
Subject: BE THE NEXT OF KIN


Dear Sir/Ma,

I am Mohamed Adoh Solicitor. I am the Personal
Attorney to Mr T Brad a national of your country, who used to work
with Taxaco Nigeria Limited.On the 2nd of may 2003,
my client, his wife And their three children were involved in a car
accident along Ikeja Express Road. All occupants of the vehicle
unfortunately lost there lives.
Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate
any of my clients extended relatives, which has also proved
unsuccessful.
After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his
relatives over the Internet, to locate any member of his family but
of no avail, hence I contacted you. I have contacted you to assist
in repartrating the money that belong to my client before they get
confisicated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge
deposits were lodged.
Particularly, the Bank where the deceased had an account valued at
about $30million dollars has issued me a notice to provide the next
of kin or have the account confisicated within the next ten official
working days. since i have been unsuccesfull in locating the the
relatives for over 3 years now I
seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased
since you are from the same country and bear the same last name ,so
that the proceeds of this account valued at $30million dollars can
be paid to you and then you and me can share the money. 55% to me
and 40% to you,while 5% should be for expenses or tax as your
government may require, I have the ertificate of deposit that can be
used to back up any claim we may make.All I require is your honest
cooperation to enable us see this dealt through.

I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.Please
get in touch with me by my email to enable us discuss further.

Best regards,
Barr.Mohamed Adoh

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam