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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: "Brian L. Quest" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <brian.quest@post.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:10:43 -0700
Subject: We want to invest in your country, please contact me for more details now

Good evening to you,
 
How are you doing today? I sent this letter to you previously, but I did not get any response from you, and I am sending it once more hoping it gets to you this time around to enable me to stop any further search. I apologize for the necessity to write you and to become maybe bothersome, but I believe in your ability to prosecute a project of great enormity, please note this is not connected with any deceptive intention as you may have imagine. I have a very lucrative project that I would want you and I to execute immediately. There is a quiescent account in my institution here in England. This very account is attached to a client of mine Mr. Albert J. Stanley, a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KBR Inc, who is currently in confinement as a result of his involvement in inducement scandal.
 
For more details about Mr. Albert Stanley, kindly visit the news link below,
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-kbr-chief-gets-30-months-for-nigeria-bribery/
 
However, prior to his reformatory center, my client Mr. Albert, told me to look for a foreign business partner who would help him to receive his funds amounting to Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Pounds (7.5MGBP) with our institution into his/her bank account for an investment orientation pending his release from the penitentiary.
 
If your interested, then I want to inform you that this exercise is very simple, direct , and has no encumbrance attached for whatsoever. On the other hand, should I have your full consent to participate in the project, I am going to provide you with all the necessary information about the project, these includes an authorization letter from Mr. Albert Stanley and a Memorandum of understanding to bring us together for the business?.
 
For us to proceed, I would like to know your full name, address, age, direct telephone, fax number and occupation, this is to enable me to prepare the memorandum of understanding. Please if you have any question, do not hesitate to inform me for further clarification.
 
I will be waiting to hear from you.
 
 
Contact me through my private email questbrian@post.com
 
 
Regards,     
Brian L. Quest.

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