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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: Andrew Seaman <pichit@yaskawa.co.th>
Reply-To: Andrew Seaman <andrewseaman@gmx.us>
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 21:19:22 +0700 (ICT)
Subject: Inheritance Payment Notification

Greetings to you, my name is Andrew Seaman
I have been trying to reach you since the beginning of the year without success, I do not know if you received all the emails I sent to you? Well I am writing you again. I am based in Europe; I work with a financial institution in Europe.

I have the opportunity of transferring substantial and vital information to you from the financial institution I work with.
A few years back by a wealthy contractor who is now deceased and fortunately you have the same SURNAME with the depositor. Considering the fact that the depositor has no traceable relative who will eventually apply for the claim, I decided to contact you after many years of his demise so that you can apply for a claim "WITH MY ASSISTANCE" and take custody of the funds for our mutual benefit. I will not mention the amount of money which runs into millions of US$Dollars presently neither will I mention the name of the firm I work with in Europe until I am sure you have agreed to deal. I trust you will understand the need for such precautions.

Please note; in 2001, I succeeded in claiming $9million from the same financial institution with the help of an American like me, but by the time I went to receive my share of the money from her a week after the money was released into her account, she had changed her home address and moved out of CALIFORNIA to another state and till date, I am still searching for her. But because it was a deal and a confidential matter, I could not seek legal action against her or even inform the authorities regarding the situation. So for safety reason and benefit of both of us to ensure that I do not make the same MISTAKE I made in 2001, I will have to meet with you physically for discussion before we can proceed with the deal.

I wait to hear from you

Andrew Seaman
andyseaman@gmx.us

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