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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: "Obaseki" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sandraobasekicbn@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 18:33:51 -0800
Subject: Fund Release Hard Disk

Hello Dear,
 
My Name is Miss Sandra Obaseki, 26 years old, 
 
I am a computer analyst currently working with
 
Central Bank of Nigeria. I just started working
 
with Central Bank of Nigeria. (C.B.N.) My Dear,
 
I came across your payment file which was
 
Marked X and your Fund Release Hard Disk
 
Painted Red, I took my time to study your
 
payment file and found out that you have really
 
attempted to receive the funds without success
 
till now.
 
 
The most annoying thing is that the directors
 
and top officials of this nation could not tell
 
you the truth that on no account will they ever
 
release the fund to you; instead they will let
 
you spend money unnecessarily. I swear with my
 
life, I can release this funds to you if you
 
can certify me of my security and how I can run
 
away from this country to meet with you. This
 
is like a Mafia Setting here,  if I do this for
 
you, I do not intend to work here all the days
 
of my life and I can not ,stay here as this
 
Bank have my home address in Nigeria and if I
 
don't run away after I making the transfer to
 
your bank account, I may be in trouble or my
 
life will be in danger.
 
 
The only thing I will need to release this fund
 
is a Special Hard Disk, we call it HD120 GIG. I
 
will buy two of it, recopy your information,
 
destroy the previous one, and punch the
 
computer to make the fund reflect in your bank
 
account within 24 banking hours. I will clean
 
up the tracer and destroy your file, after
 
which I will run away from here to meet with
 
you in your country if you are interested. But
 
you must assure me the absolute confidentiality
 
of this deal before I can do anything
 
further.Do get in touch with me immediately,You
 
should send to me your convenient tell/fax
 
numbers for easy communications and also re
 
confirm your banking details, so that there
 
won't be any mistake. For phone
 
conversation,please call me on
 
 
SPECIAL INFORMATION:
 
YOU WILL SEND THE FEE FOR THE HARD DISK FIRST
 
BEFORE I MAKE YOUR TRANSFER OR YOU BUY
THE HARD DISK IN YOUR COUNTRY AND SEND IT TO
 
ME,DON'T CONTACT ME IF YOU CAN NOT SEND
THE HARD DISK FEE FIRST OR THE HARD DISK. AS
 
SOON AS I RECEIVED YOUR EMAIL I WILL LET
YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THE DISK WILL COST YOU.
 
Regards,
 
Miss Sandra Obaseki
 
Computer Analyst

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