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.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: Mariam Kabila <m_kab2@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 07:59:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: DEAREST ONE.


DEAREST ONE,

COMPLIMENTS OF THE DAY,

I KNOW THAT THIS MAIL WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE,NEVER MIND,IT IS FOR MUTUAL BENEFIT.
I AM MRS MARIAM KABILA FROM DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
I AM CONTACTING YOU FOR ASSISTANCE TO RELOCATE ME AND MY SON AND TO HELP ME INVEST SOME FUNDS IN MY POSSITION.
MY HUSBAND WAS THE PRESIDENT OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO BEFORE HE WAS ASSASINATED BY HIS SPECIAL BODY GUIDE.THE ELDER SON(JOSEPH KABILA) OF MY HUSBAND TOOK OVER POWER AS PRESIDENT OF CONGO AFTER THE DEATH OF MY HUSBAND WHO IS ALSO HIS FATHER.SINCE THE SON TOOK OVER POWER,HE HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR A WAY TO TRACK ALL THE FATHERS WIVES SO THAT HIM AND HIS MOTHER WILL BE IN CONTROLE OF OUR HUSBANDS WEALTH.
THERE IS SOME HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY WHICH MY LATE HUSBAND DEPOSITED IN A FINANCE HOUSE IN COTE D'IVOIRE IN THE NAME OF HIS FOREIGN PARTNER BEFORE HIS DEATH. HE HAS NARRATED ME ALL ABOUTH THE MONEY SO IMMEDIATELY I HEARD OF HIS DEATH,I RUSHED TO HIS PRIVATE ROOM AND PICKED UP THE DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE VSAID DEPOSIT.
I HAVE TO RAN TO COTE D'IVOIRE WITH MY ONLY SON IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BURIAL CEREMONY OF MY HUSBAND WITH THE HELP OF UNITED NATION.
PRESENTLY I AM IN A REFUGEE CAMP HERE IN COTE D'IVOIRE WITH MY SON.
I AM CONTACTING YOU TO ASSIST ME CLAIM THIS MONEY FROM THE FINANCE HOUSE AS MY LATE HUSBAND FOREIGN PARTNER FOR ONWARD TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. I WILL ALSO WANT YOU TO ADVICE ME ON HOW TO INVEST THIS MONEY IN YOUR COUNTRY BECAUSE I WILL LIKE TO MOVE OUT OF THIS COUNTRY AS SOON AS THE CLAIM OF THIS MONEY IS BEEN COMPLETED TO AVOID MY LATE HUSBANDS SON(JOSEPH) KNOWING MY WAY ABOUT.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT DEPOSITED IN FINANCE HOUSE IS FOUR MILLION USA DOLARS($4,000,000.00). I PROMISE TO OFFER YOU 15% OF THE TOTAL SUM IF YOU CAN ASSIST ME COMPLETE THIS PROJECT.
PLEASE COMFIRM YOUR ABILITY/READINESS TO ASSIST ME BY REPLYING THIS MAIL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT I WILL DIRECT YOU ON HOW TO APPLY FOR THE CLAIM.
PLEASE KEEP THIS ISUE AS A TOP SECRET,EVEN THOUGH YOU DONT WANT TO HELP ME,FOR MY SECURITY.

I WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU IMMEDIATELY.

REMAIN BLESSED,
MRS MARIAM KABILA.







---------------------------------
Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1&cent;/min.

Anti-fraud resources: