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:
Date:
Subject: Mrs. Nenita Villaran

Dear beloved friend,
=20
I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I came acros=
s your email contact from my personal search and I instructed the docto=
r here in this hospital to help me email you and I believe that you wil=
l be honest to fulfill my final wish before I will die.=20
=20
I am Mrs. Nenita Villaran from philippine, I am 58 years old, I am deaf=
and suffering from a long time cancer of the breast, which also affect=
ed my brain. From all indication my condition is really deteriorating, =
and my doctors have courageously advised me that I may not live beyond =
the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has reached a cri=
tical stage. Iwas brought up in a motherless baby=E2=80=99s home, and w=
as married to my late husband for twenty years without a child. My husb=
and and I are true Christians, but quite unfortunately, he died in a fa=
tal motor accident..

Since his death I decided not to re-marry, I sold all my inherited belo=
ngings and deposited all the sum of $3.2million dollars with a Bank. Pr=
esently, this money is still in their custody, and the management just =
wrote me as the Legitimate beneficiary to come forward to receive the m=
oney after keeping it for so long or rather issue a letter of authoriza=
tion to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over a=
s a result of my illness, or they get it confiscated.=20

Presently, I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been undergoin=
g treatment. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have t=
old me that I have only a few months to live.

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested in any organizati=
on of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organizat=
ion, the poor and the motherless baby=E2=80=99s home where I come from.=
I want your good humanitarian, to also use this money to fund churches=
, orphanages and widows around. I must let you know that this was a ver=
y hard decision, but I had to take a bold step towards this issue becau=
se I have no further option. I hope you will help see my last wishes co=
me true..

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Ban=
k. I will also issue you a letter of authority, which will prove that y=
ou are the new beneficiary of my funds.=20

Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated=20
herein.Hope to hear from you soonest..
=20
Awaiting your reply Yours in Christ,

Mrs. Nenita Villaran

Anti-fraud resources: