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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Ms. Yele Aust" <yeleaust@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: yeleaust@aol.com
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 12:12:17 +0100
Subject: REACT PROMPTLY (KEEP UP A CORRESPONDENCE)

Hello,

My name is Ms. Yele Aust. I am an Account Director of a Private Banking Service for United Overseas Bank (UOB), Hong Kong. I was also the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to one of our late investors, a (multi-millionaire) and a valued customer of my department. He recently passed away as a result of in grown tumour to the brain. I can confirm with certainty that the said investor died intestate and has no next of kin to his estates.

I am of the settled conviction that using my insider leverage and working with you can secure the funds in the account for the both of us. My contact to you today is to start by building a strong bond with an experienced business person as you, who would be well capable of handling an important business transaction in the amount of "millions of dollars" (the actual amount will be disclosed to you) with me. This is purely based on the same LAST NAME to the late investor. The transaction is 100% legitimate, so we have absolutely nothing to worry about.

I have seized all relevant documents (Legal and Banking) that will facilitate my putting you forward as the claimant/beneficiary of the funds and ultimately transfer the money to any account nominated by you anywhere in the World.
We could either split the above amount, or use some part of it for investment purposes into any possible project that your company requires funding for. We could also invest into other lucrative businesses in a variety of sectors.

Because of the nature of this business transaction, I must ask that you do not disclose any information regarding my contact with you to a third party. Do reply back to me either by fax or email with your contact details for me to contact you for further discussions and information.

I am open to any suggestion.

Regards,

Ms. Yele Aust
Account Director.

Anti-fraud resources: