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: "Mr. Mohammed Habibu" <fundtransferunit@mail.org>
Reply-To: mrhabibuafundtransferunit0006@outlook.com
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2016 06:13:36 +0800
Subject: NEXT OF KIN CLAIMS

Dear Sir,

I am Mr. Mohammed Habibu; I work with a reputable financial institution in Kenya as
an Account Officer in the Treasury/Credit Control Unit. I was mandated to look for a
Customer who died some years back in Westgate shopping mall attack by Al-Shabaab
terror attack, on 23rd September 2013 to enable his family claim his inheritance
funds.

After these 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 repatriating the assets and Capital valued at £12,540,000.00
Million pounds (Twelve Million, Five Hundred and Forty Thousand Pounds Only) left
behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the
share holders of this Financial Institution, so that they can share his funds as
dividends amongst themselves.

The Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account
confiscated within the next fourteen official working days, because as at the time
of his demise I was his accounting officer, but have since been promoted to the
position of Treasury/Credit Control Unit, ever since I have been unsuccessful in
locating the relatives for some time now, I seek your consent to present you as the
next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of his account can be paid to you,
it does not matter if you are direct or indirect relative. Therefore, on receipt of
your positive response, we shall then discuss modalities for transfer.

As soon as I receive an acknowledgment of your acceptance, I will furnish you with
the necessary modalities of the transaction. I assure you that this transaction is
100% risk free, and as soon as we succeed in getting this funds to your account, The
money will be shared on a 50, 50 basis............... I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law.

I am waiting to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Mr. Mohammed Habibu.

Anti-fraud resources: