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: "A. A. Scott" <aascott.private01@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2014 07:57:33 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Trust


 Dear Sir, 
I write to you in good faith and trust that you will take a moment to consider the contents of this letter.I am A. A. Scott, Head Auditor L. F. S. Ltd, London, United Kingdom. In the course of my Job, I discovered a floating fund in an account which was opened in 1999 by a client who died in 2005. Every effort made to track any member of his family has since failed because the deceased died leaving no heir or a will in his file. I decided to contact you to stand as the next of kin. 
The motive behind this Letter is to facilitate the transfer of this sum of $15,500,000 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) in the Investment Deposit to a safe account overseas.I therefore propose that you confidentially partner with me and stand in as the next of kin. You will be required to set up a new account or provide an existing account that will serve the purpose of receiving this fund.  For your assistance in this venture, I will compensate you with 30% of the funds after the transaction. 
Nobody has operated the account since 2005 till date and he died without an heir; no one has come forward for this claim, hence the money has been floating. This information I have on this account is confidential as no other person has access to it. If the funds are not remitted urgently, it would be forfeited and subsequently converted to company's funds which will benefit only the shareholders of our company. The fund will be approved to you legally with all the necessary documents and approvals in your name. However, I will be behind the scene to guide you on how to apply for the funds. 
Please respond through my direct Phone, fax numbers or email below respectively. Tel:  +44 708 769 7980 Fax: +44 843 564 2549 Email: private.aascott@yahoo.co.uk  to enable me send you more detail on this proposition.  I completely trust you to keep this information absolutely private because of my position in the Office.  Kindly forward a copy of this letter back to me by fax or email and provide your Private Telephone and Fax numbers where I can reach you easily.   I look forward to your prompt response.
 
Best regards, 

A.  A. ScottL. F. S. Ltd. London, UK
Direct Tel: +44 708 769 7980Direct Fax: +44 843 564 2549
Email: private.aascott@yahoo.co.uk  

Anti-fraud resources: