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: Clive whittaker <whittaker_clive@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:03:54 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Assistance


FROM:Mr. Clive Whittaker
Accra, Ghana.
TEL: + 233-261404918
 

Dear friend,
                                                     ASSISTANCE.
My name is, MR. Cmive Whittaker the elder son of Mr. John Whittaker, of Zimbabwe. This might be a surprise to you about  where I got your contact address. I got your address from  the South African Chamber of Commerce in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During the resent  war against the farmers in Zimbabwe from  the supports of our President Robert Mugabe to claim all  the white-owned farms to his party members and his  followers, he ordered all white farmers to surrender all farms to his party members and his followers.
My father was One of the best farmers in our country and because he did not support Mugabes ideas,Mugabes supports  invaded my fathers farm and burnt everything in the farm, killed my father and made away with a lot of items in my fathers farm.
Before his death, my father had deposited with a Security Company in Accra, Ghana the sum of US$20 MILLION(TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS).After the
death of my father, our family memebers decided to move to the Republic of Ghana where he had deposited the money in the Security Company as valuables.
So I decided to contact overseas firm and companies that will assist me to move this money out of Acrra, Ghana because as asylum seekers we are not allowed to operate any
Bank Account within Gnana .We have agreed to offer you 25% of the total sum for your assistance,5% will be mapped out for any expenses that may be incurred in the course of this transaction while 70% will be for me and my family to invest in your country.
All I want you to do is to furnish me with your entire personal phone and email address for easy communication. You can contact me on the above Telephone and E-mail numbers. Note that this transaction is 100% Risk free and absolutely
confidential.
Thanks and God bless.
Best Regards
Mr Clive Whittaker

Anti-fraud resources: