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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "DR.EMMANUEL OBINNA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <obinnaemmanuel2017@rediffmail.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2017 21:04:24 +0200
Subject: MUTUAL BENEFITS

DEAR SIR/MADAM
 
I GOT YOUR EMAIL FOLLOWING MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PARTNER TO WORK WITH FOR OUR MUTUAL BENEFIT.I AM THE CHAIRMAN OF DEBT RECONCILIATION COMMITTEE,SET UP BY MY GOVERNMENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA [AFRICA]AND WAS MANDATED TO INVESTIGATE ALL FOREIGN CONTRACTS/INHERITANCE  PAYMENTS OF BENEFICIARIES WHOSE MONEY HAS NOT BEEN PAID BY THE PAST GOVERNMENT .DURING OUR INVESTIGATION,WE FOUND OUT THAT SOME PAST OFFICIALS HAS AWARDED A CONTRACT WORTH OF USD $100,000,000 [ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS]TO AN AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION FIRM IN 2007,BUT THAT CONTRACT WAS OVER INVOICED TO THE TUNE OF USD$135,000,000 MILLION WITH THE INTENTION OF THE OFFICIALS SHARING THE OVER-INVOICED SUM OF USD$35 MILLION  AMONG THEM SELVES BUT WHERE REMOVED FROM OFFICE FOR CORRUPTION BY THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO TRANSFER THE OVER-INVOICED SUM BEFORE THEY WERE REMOVED.AFTER OUR INVESTIGATIONS,WE HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU IN ORDER TO PRESENT YOU AS ONE OF OUR SUB! -CONTRACTORS.WITH YOUR APPROVAL,WE
 
WE HAVE DULLY WORKED OUT THE MODALITY TO HANDLE THIS TRANSACTION IN THESE CAREFULLY FOLLOWING STAGES.YOU WILL HELP BY PROVIDING A SAFE BANK ACCOUNT INTO WHICH THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED AND YOU WILL ALSO STAND IN AS THE FUND BENEFICIARY. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ANSWERS TO SECURITY QUESTIONS, WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER WHEN CALL UPON. WE WILL SECURE ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN YOUR FAVOR AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR INTEREST AND WE WILL SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION TO THE AUTHORITIES FOR APPROVALS AND IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE FUND INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT THROUGH ANY OF OUR CORRESPONDENCE BANKS IN UK OR AMERICA. I WILL NOT ALSO FAIL TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT THIS MONEY IS REAL AND 100% HITCH-FREE SO YOU SHOULD NOT ENTERTAIN ANY FEAR AS ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THE FUND WITHIN 10 BANKING DAYS. LIKE AS I SAID, ALL I REQUIRED FROM YOU IS YOUR HONESTY, FULL CORPORATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY ON THIS PROJECT.
 
 
NOTE THAT,THE ORIGINAL CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN PAID IN-FULL BUT THE OVER-INVOICED SUM OF USD$35 MILLION IS STILL INDICATING IN OUR SUSPENSE ACCOUNT AS UNPAID CONTRACT PAYMENT.THE PRESIDENT OF MY COUNTRY HAS ALSO INSTRUCTED THIS OFFICE TO FIND ANY CONTRACTORS/INHERITANCE FUND BENEFICIARY THAT HAS NOT BEEN PAID BY THE PAST GOVERNMENT AND SUBMIT THEIR NAMES FOR IMMEDIATE APPROVAL AND PAYMENT.I WANT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO HELP ME RECEIVE THIS AMOUNT IN YOUR COUNTRY BECAUSE WE CANNOT RECEIVE IT BY OUR SELVES BECAUSE WE ARE CIVIL SERVANT STILL WORKING WITH THE GOVERNMENT AND WE ARE NOT PERMITTED BY LAW TO OPERATE A FOREIGN ACCOUNTS.
 
 
WE ARE OFFERING YOU 30% OUT OF THE USD$35,000,000 MILLION,10% FOR ANY EXPENSES ON BOTH SIDE ,WHILE I AND MY COLLEAGUES WILL SHARE 60%.YOUR URGENT RESPONSE IS HIGHLY NEEDED TO PROCEED.
 
 
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS
 
DR.EMMANUEL OBINNA
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
obinnaemmanuel2017@rediffmail.com

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