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"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: Udo Udomah <mmfalade11@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: udoudomah@o2.pl
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 00:11:42 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Urgent Reply Needed




DEAR SIR,

I DECIDED TO REACH YOU AFTER MUCH CONTEMPLATION OVER YOUR PENDING CONTRACT PAYMENT WITH CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. MY NAME IS SENATOR UDO UDOMAH, SPECIAL ASSISTANCE TO THE PRESIDENT ON FOREIGN CONTRACT PAYMENT.

FOLLOWING YOUR INABILITY TO CLAIM YOUR CONTRACT FUND FROM CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, YOUR CONTRACT FILE WAS FORWARDED TO MY OFFICE FOR NEXT LINE OF ACTION. I HAVE STUDIED YOUR TRANSACTION FILES THOROUGHLY AND DISCOVERED THAT YOU DID NOT EXECUTE ANY CONTRACT FOR FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA BUT WHAT YOU ARE CLAIMING IS OVER INVOICED CONTRACT AMOUNT MANIPULATED BY SOME TOP GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES WHO ARE NO LONGER IN SERVICE. RIGHT NOW, THE AUTHENTIC PIN CODE TO DECODE THIS PAYMENT IS WITHIN MY POWER AND I HAVE DECIDED TO CONCLUDE THE TRANSACTION WITH YOU AND NO ONE ELSE. MY CONDITION TO CONCLUDE THE FUND TRANSFERS WITH YOU ARE SIMPLE.

A. WARNING: HENCEFORTH, IF YOU COMMUNICATE WITH ANY ONE ELSE, I WILL CANCEL THIS PAYMENT INDEFINITELY. DUE TO THE SENSITIVE NATURE OF MY POSITION IN GOVERNMENT, I DO NOT WANT ANY PUBLICITY OF ANY SORT. THEREFORE, YOU MUST GIVE ME 100% ASSURANCE THAT YOU WILL STOP ALL FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH OTHER PERSONS FOR NOW. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO AVOID ANY FORM OF PETITION THAT COULD DELAY THIS FINAL PROCESS OF FUND TRANSFER INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. HOWEVER, YOU ARE AT LIBERTY TO GET BACK TO YOUR PARTNERS AND COMPENSATE WHOEVER YOU WISH AFTER THE MONEY IS IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT THROUGH MY EFFORT.

B. YOU MUST ASSURE ME THAT YOU WILL COMPENSATE ME IN TERMS YOU CONSIDER MOST APPROPRIATE AS SOON AS THE FUNDS ARE CREDITED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO TRAVEL TO ANYWHERE FOR THIS PAYMENT. IT WILL NOT WORK; YOU WILL ONLY WASTE TIME AND MONEY. ALL OVER THE WORLD, PAYMENT OF THIS MAGNITUDE IS NORMALLY BY DIRECT TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER FROM THE PAYING BANK TO THE RECEIVING BANK.

IT WILL TAKE ONLY FIVE BANK WORKING DAYS TO CLEAR THE FUNDS INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT.IF THE ABOVE CONDITION ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO YOU, PLEASE I ADVISE YOU TO FORGET THIS TRANSACTION BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN EVER DO TO HAVE THE FUNDS. AS SOON AS I HEAR FROM YOU, I WILL INSTRUCT YOU EXACTLY WHAT TO DO TO ENABLE US CONCLUDE THIS TRANSACTION WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY AND WITH UTMOST SECRECY.

I EXPECT YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE.

YOURS TRULY,

SEN. UDOMAH.

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