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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fund beneficiary" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "CHARLES STANLEY" <charlesstanley000101@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:26:13 +0600 (BDT)
Subject: Dear Fund Beneficiary:
Dear Fund Beneficiary:
Regarding the Graham Robert trust fund still pending claims process, I
have again been directed by the British High court to remind you on the
need to act fast with
the fund transfer procedures of the Graham Robert trust fund as the court
will not go back on its deadline date notice of this month ending for the
claims of the
Graham Robert trust fund. The court made this known today in their email
to my office and they said their intention regarding the Graham Robert
trust fund is to ensure
that latest first week of march, the charity project for late Graham
Robert should be flagged off and it will be impossible if at this point
the needed resources is
not available at your disposal.
The British high court made it clear that if you not ready to act as
instructed, you should decline this fund transfer procedures and allow
them take full charge of
the transaction so they can be able to accomplish the dying wish of Graham
Robert rather than allow the Graham Robert trust fund to waste without
meeting the dying
wish of late Graham Robert. They want you to understand that at this point
it’s a yes or no affair considering the fact that they were also mentioned
in the WILL. The
court said for an amount of money of this magnitude, a reasonable and
serious person should do anything instructed to have it transferred to
enable the commencement of
the charity work assigned you by late Graham Robert.
They hereby advise that at this stage you should bother about meeting the
fund transfer demands as you currently have till ending of the month to
conclude the fund
transfer and have the fund transferred to your account otherwise you will
forfeit the Graham Robert trust fund on ground of incompetence, this is in
line with the
Graham Robert WILL. I hereby advise at this point that you act fast in
this regard as this new update from the British High court should be
taking serious in order to
avoid the confiscation of the fund that was willed to you. I advise that
you act fast and complete the Graham Robert transfer directives as soon as
possible to enable
you meet this deadline date.
I await your response to this email as soon as possible.
Yours Sincerely
Charles Stanley
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