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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: "Michael j. Simpson" <michaelj.simpson44@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 22:03:08 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Ref: Michael J. Simpson


Ref: Michael J. Simpson

Dear: Sir,

My name is Michael J Simpson from London, England; I am banker and a private consultant for very eminent persons in the Asian and East Europe region. They have appointed me to source on their behalf a foreigner with whom they can jointly entrust a reasonable amount of money, which will be channeled into a highly lucrative business venture. They have $150million (One hundred and fifty million United States Dollars).They request strict confidentiality due to their public nature, they prefer to be anonymous hence I have been given the mandate to source for someone of high business experience with very good reputation.
               
                         Proposal in summary:

My client are top government officials in the Asian and East Europe region they want the fund to be invested through a well-established businessman abroad who can front for them without disclosing their identity. A power of attorney will be given to you to manage these funds on their behalf and you will be awarded as compensation, a certain percentage from the proceeds of the investment, which is negotiable.

Note importantly that I have been contacted by two different people in the past month that made me believe that they were serious about doing business but proved otherwise. I do not appreciate my being wasted in matters such as this.

So if truly you are interested in proceeding, kindly indicate by sending a response with the following information:

[1]Full Names:
[2]Contact address:
[3]Direct Telephone/Fax Number
[4]Occupation
[5]Age
[6]Copy of your international passport.

Thank you for the understanding!
 
Yours sincerely
Michael J. Simpson

Anti-fraud resources: