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: "Dr. Cho Cheng" (may be fake)
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2017 06:37:17 -0600
Subject: Confidential business..ASAP

Bank of china, Shenzhen,
Peoples Republic Of China.
chocheng2016@asia.com
I am Dr. Cheng Cho, Bank Manager of Bank of China, Shenzhen Branch, China. I have urgent and very
confidential business proposition for you. A British Oil consultant/contractor with the Chinese Solid Minerals
Corporation, Mr Raymond Beck made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at
Thirty Million US dollars in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers,
the Chinese Solid Minerals Corporation, that Mr. Raymond Beck died in a plane crash along with his wife
Mrs Doreen Beck in Egypt Air Flight 990, 1999 air crash
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm). Since we got this information about his death.
On further investigation, I found out that he died without making a WILL and all attempts to trace his next
of kin was fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Raymond Beck did not
declare any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.
This sum of Thirty Million dollars is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the
principal sum at the end of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. According to Laws of
Republic of China, at the expiration of 18 (Eightteen) years, the money will revert to the ownership of
the Chinese Government if nobody applies to claim the fund. Consequently, my proposal is for you as a
foreigner, to stand in as the next of kin to Mr. Raymond Beck so that the fruits of this old man's labor
will not get into the hands of some corrupt government officials.This is simple, I will like you to provide
immediately your full names and address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary documents and
affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin.We shall employ the services of an attorney for
drafting and notarization of the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor for the transfer. A bank account in any part of the world
that you will provide will then facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of
kin. The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of eighty percent for me
and twenty percent for you. There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be
done by the attorney and my position as the Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of
this transaction. If you are Interested, please reply immediately via the private email address above.
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant documents that will help
you understand the transaction. Please send me your confidential telephone and fax numbers for easy
communication.
Regards,
Dr. Cheng Cho.

Anti-fraud resources: