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: "Edna Kerr." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <d.gate11998@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2016 04:55:34 -0700
Subject: Reply

Dear

Greetings to you and your family in the name of God. In my search for a reliable and God fearing person and having gotten your contact through prayers and painstaking
efforts I have decided to seek your help in carrying out my last wishes. My name is Ms. Edna Kerr. I'm a 65 years old woman and from London. I was a merchant and
owned two businesses in London. I was also married with one child.

My husband and my only child died in a auto crash six years ago. Before this happened, my business and concern for making money was all I lived for. I never really
cared about other values in life. But since the loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have been helping orphans in orphanage/motherless homes.
I have also donated some money for humanitarian needs in different countries.

I was moving with great pity and compassion that I decided to make this contribution on assisting people over there, I have kept some Millions of Dollars
in a long-term deposit account in a Finance company. Presently, I'm in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer.
I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only few months to live. It is my last wish to see these money distributed to the less
priviledged ones and charity organization. Because relatives and friends have plundered so much of my wealth since my illness, I cannot live with the agony entrusting
this huge responsibility to any of them.

Please, I beg you in the name of God to help me collect the deposit and distribute it accordingly. Use your judgment to distribute the money and keep 20% of it to
yourself. Feel free to reimburse yourself when you have the money for any cost you incur during the process of collecting and distributing the money. If you are
willing to help, please reply as soon as possible with your full contact details;
Name..............................
Address...........................
Phone Number..........................

Once you respond to this i will give you the contact information of my attorney as I have instructed him on what to do based on the fact that I do not have much time
left to live although he is not aware of the funds as i have chosen not tell him due to personal reasons.

Your praying on my behalf will also be appreciated at this point in time.

Thank you and God Bless us all.

Edna Kerr.

Anti-fraud resources: