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: Jonah Williams <jonah_williams1@yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: j_williams40@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:22:24 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: PRIVATE MESSAGE TO .............


DEAR,

I CANNOT IMAGINE THE SURPRISE THIS WILL BRING TO YOU, BUT BE REST ASSURED IT IS IN GOOD FAITH AND FRIENDLY INTENTIONS, FROM A FRIEND IN DEAR NEED OF YOUR ASSISTANCE, BEARING IN MIND THE CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRED IN THIS ABSOLUTE RISK-FREE BUSINESS.

I AM MR JONAH WILLIAMS, THE MANAGER OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK HEAD OFFICE IN LOME-TOGO. RECENTLY,WE DISCOVERED A DORMANT ACCOUNT WITH A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY VALUED USD 9,000,000.00(NINE MILLION US DOLLARS)THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS; MR CHUNG LYNDA, WHO PERISHED IN A PLANE CRASH(KOREAN AIR FLIGHT 801)WITH THE WHOLE PASSENGERS ABOARD ON AUGUST 6TH 1997.BELOW IS THE WEBSITE OF THE PLANE CRASH.

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/06/guam.passenger.list/

SINCE THE DEMISE OF THIS OUR CUSTOMER, I PERSONALLY I HAVE WATCHED WITH KEEN INTEREST TO SEE THE NEXT OF KIN, BUT ALL HAS PROVED ABORTIVE,SINCE NO ONE HAS COME TO CLAIM THIS FUND FOR A VERY LONG TIME AS HIS NEXT OF KIN. BECAUSE OF THIS WE HAVE DECIDED TO SEEK FOR WHOM HIS NAME SHALL BE USED AS THE NEXT OF KIN.
AS A CIVIL SERVANT WITH THE BANK AND A TOGOLAISE I CANNOT STAND AS A NEXT OF KIN TO A FOREIGNER NEITHER MY COLLEAGUES. IT IS UPON THIS DEVELOPMENT THAT I AND MY COLLEAGUES IN THIS DEPARTMENT DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU TO COLLABORATE WITH YOU TO PULL OUT THIS DORMANT FUND. WE HAVE IT IN MIND TO GIVE YOU 25% OF THIS TOTAL FUND IF THIS PROPOSAL MEETS YOUR INTEREST.

URGENTLY REACH ME THROUGH MY EMAIL ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER TO ENABLE ME GIVE YOU THE FULL DETAILS OF THIS TRANSACTION AND HOW IT IS GOING TO WORK OUT. WHAT I WANT FROM YOU IS TO ACT AS THE DECEASED NEXT OF KIN, AND IN REGARDS TO THAT FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO YOU AS SOON AS I RECEIVE YOUR POSITIVE RESPONSE VIA, E-MAIL OR TELEPHONE.

ANTICIPATING YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.

BEST REGARDS,

MR JONAH WILLIAMS.


---------------------------------
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo! Answers.

Anti-fraud resources: