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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: test@angeladvance.com
Reply-To: mendezjohn191@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2018 09:13:43 +0900
Subject: hello


Hello, My name is Mr.John Mendez,Director; HSBC Private Banking,I contact y=
ou independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this commun=
ication.A client who shares the same name with you and also the circumstanc=
es surrounding investments made by this client at HSBC Bank Plc.The HSBC Pr=
ivate banking client died intestate and nominated no next of kin to inherit=
the title over the investment made with HSBC Bank Pls. My proposal;you sha=
re similar details to the late fellow;I am prepared to instruct the Securit=
y Consultancy firm to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving r=
elation.Upon receipt of the deposit,I am prepared to share the money with y=
ou in half.That is.I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have t=
hem release the deposit to you.We share the proceeds 50/50. I would have go=
ne ahead to ask the funds be released to me,but that would have drawn a str=
aight line to me and my involvement with claiming the deposit.But on the ot=
her hand, you with the same surname as the original depositor would easily =
pass as the beneficiary or next of kin with right to claim. I assure you th=
at I could have the deposit released to you within a few days. I will simpl=
y inform the bank of the final closing of the file I will then officially c=
ommunicate with the Security Consultancy firm and instruct them to release =
the deposit to you. With these two things: all is done. The alternative wou=
ld be for us to have the Security Consultancy firm direct the funds to anot=
her bank with you as the account holder. This way there will be no need for=
you to think of receiving the money from the Security Consultancy firm as =
it is not a conventional financial institution; they accept deposits from o=
nly organizations thus; what you hand over to them is what you get back. Th=
ey do not have the means to process the money. We can fine-tune this based =
on our interactions. I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask=
that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this =
mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is o=
f no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do=
not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. Hope to h=
ear from you. Truly yours Mr.John Mendez. mendezjohn191@gmail.com

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