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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: "Barrister Davis Polk" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barristerdavidpolk@rediffmail.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 14:24:04 -0500
Subject: Personal Letter


Dear Friend,

This is a personal letter directed to you and i request that it be treated as such. I am Davis Polk, a solicitor at and a personal attorney to Late Mr. Omar Citizen of your country, who worked as an independent contractor with the British Petroleum (BP PLC) British multinational oil and Gas Company headquartered in London, England.
The Late Mr. Omar was one of my very good clients, on the 21st of April 2008, my client; his wife and their only son were involved in a car accident at Wakefield, England. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives but all my effort proved unsuccessful. After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

I have contacted you to assist in receiving the amount of US$10.5 million (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) Assets and Capitals valued left behind by my client at a Bank in Europe before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this amount was deposited.

The Bank has now sent me a final notification to provide the next of kin or any relative of my Late client or have the account confiscated within the next three months and Since i have been unsuccessful in locating any of my clients relatives for over 6 years now i seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

After getting a positive response from you we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for the claim. All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch with me through my email or call me on +44-702-404-6404 for more details.

Sincerely,
Davis Polk & Wardwell London LLP
99 Gresham Street
London EC2V 7NG
England
Tel: + 447 024046404
Fax: + 447 006079379

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