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: Estelle Walter <hendycrasky_03@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: Estelle Walter <estellewallter@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2015 23:01:54 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From The Hospital,

>From The Hospital,
 
Beloved, This letter might appear to you as a surprise but I really prayed to God to guide me choose somebody that will be a reliable honest partner, a person who has a fear of God that cannot betray my remaining bereaved family and me as I don’t even know whom to trust so I allowed God spirit to lead me.
 
I am Mrs.Estelle Walter a widow suffering from serious lung and breast cancer for the pass five years now. I inherited the sum of 5.5 Million us dollars, through my late husband (Mr.Johnson Walter) and I want to give it out to Orphanages homes and Charity Organizations as a vow which I and my late husband made before the lord.
 
I have a house helper who is assisting me in written this mail I have given him the document of the fund and have directed him to a lawyer that will assist you to change the documents of the fund to your name to enable my bank to transfer the fund to you.
 
I may not be able to write always but my house helper Benjamin Udochia will give you the document and will direct you to the lawyer that I have appointed to him to assist you, the lawyer will do everything on your behalf to assure the success of my fund transferring to you.
 
This is the favour I need from you when you received the money under your control.
 
(1) Give 20% to Benjamin Udochia as he has been here for me throughout my illness and I have promised to support him in life
(2) Give 45% of the money to Charity organizations, Orphanage homes and Churches on my name so that my soul may rest in peace
(3) The remaining 35% should be for you and others that you may wish to assist. If i did not here from you in few days to come then i will be looking for someone else.
 
May God Almighty give you the wisdom & understanding and a good heart to assist me for the benefit of suffering children to accomplish my wishes, if you can be sympathetic and delighted to do this work, kindly reply me as soon as possible for more details,
 
Remain Blessed in the Lord
Mrs Estelle Walter

Anti-fraud resources: