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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: "INVESTMENT" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yongwongkim@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2015 07:55:17 -0400
Subject: Hello,

Hello & Greetings of the day to you,

I am Yong Wong Kim, Principal Assurance Manager for The Bank of China in Hong Kong, investments unit, as a matter of fact, I have been in charge of this duty for more than 14 years now. I write to inform you of an investment in the value of Twenty two million, Three Hundred & Fifty Thousand United States Dollars made by a client by the name of Richard who gave us instructions in 2005 to have the principal sum transferred to Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) in Hong Kong. We got in touch Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB), who agreed to receive this bond for a fee and make cash available to him. Surprisingly, they got in touch with us last year that this money has not been claimed. On further inquiries it was been discovered that our client, has been late for quite a while now, I have also monitored his remaining investment since this discovery, yet no one has come up for a claim till date.

Also as a result of this, I was mandated to carry out further investigations, where I discovered that he left his next of kin column blank on our mandate form. The reason why I decided to get in touch with you is because of the uniqueness of your last name as the late depositor. What I propose is that since I have exclusive access to his file, you will be made the beneficiary of these funds. After all due protocols has been observed, my bank will contact you informing you that money has been willed to you. On verification, which will be the details I make available to my bank, my bank will instruct Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) to make payments to you. I know this might be a bit heavy for you but please trust me on this. For all your troubles I propose that we split the money in half. In the banking circle this happens every time. Otherwise, the other option is that the money will revert back to the state. Nobody is getting hurt; this is a lifetime opportunity for us. I hol
d the KEY to these funds, and as

My proposition is to seek your consent to present you as the next-of-kin of my client, so that the proceeds of this account can be handed to you, after which we will then share the proceeds mutually as proposed, 50-50. All legal documents required to back up your claim, as my client's next-of-kin will be provided by me.

Please be informed that I will be involved in the claims verification panel of the designated payment Institution during your claims process therefore, your interest will be well protected by me. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the Law. Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should act swiftly on this. I expect you get back to me immediately via confidential email address so as to enable me provide you with more details. I await your soonest response, after which I will furnish you with the further way to go.

Respectfully & With Honor,
Y.W Kim.

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