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: "Dan Johnson" <ghtrjohnson@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: johnsonidanest@yahoo.de
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 20:50:33 +0100
Subject: Good Morning

Good Morning
I am Barr. Dan Johnson, solicitor and notary public,
the personal attorney to Mr. Mark David ,
a national of your country. On the 21st of April
2004, my client, his wife and their only son
were involved in a car accident along Accra / Kumasi
express road. Unfortunately they all lost their
lives in the event of the accident, since then
i have made several enquiries to locate any of
my clients extended relatives and this 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 contacted you to assist in repatriating
the money and property left behind before they
get confiscated or declared unserviceable by
the security where my client lodge these huge
deposits (US$7.5million) U.S dollars. Particularly,
Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the
relatives for over some years now, I seek your
consent to present you as the next of kin of
the deceased, We will share fortune thus 50% for
me and 45% to you, while 5% should be for expenses
or tax as your government may require. I have
all necessary legal documents that can be used
to backup the claim. All I require is your honest
cooperation to enable us see this deal through.
Regards
Dan

_________________________________________________________________
FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar - get it now!
http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/


Anti-fraud resources: