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: Theresa Gross <theresagross2211111@gmail.com>
Reply-To: theresagross221111@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 04:21:38 -0700
Subject: Hello My Beloved One.


Hello My Beloved One.

I greet you with the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, It is true that this
letter may come to you as a surprise. Nevertheless, I humbly ask you to
give me your attention and hear me well. My name is Mrs. Theresa Gross from
London, United Kingdom. I am married to Mr. Anthony Gross who worked in an
embassy in USA for a period of 16 years before he died.

We were married for 25 years without a child before he died after a brief
illness. Since his death I decided not to re-marry due to my religious
belief. When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of
£10.500.000.00 (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Sterling Pounds) with a
Bank here in London, UK. Presently this money is still in the custody of
the Bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last long due to my
cancer illness.

Having known my condition I decided to donate this money to churches,
organization or good person that will utilize this money the way I am going
to instruct herein.

I want you to use this money for churches, Charity organization,
orphanages, widows and other people that are in need. l took this decision
because I don't have any child that will inherit this money. Moreover, my
husband relatives are not close to me since I develop a Cancer problem and
it had been their wish to see me dead in order to inherit his wealth since
we have no Child. These people are not worthy of this inheritance. This is
why I am taking this decision to contact you and donate this fund to you in
order for you to use it for the charity works.

As soon as I receive your reply I will give you the contact of the Bank
here in London where this money is deposited. I will also issue a letter of
authorization to the bank that will prove you are the present beneficiary
of this money. I also want you to always put me in your prayer.

Any delay in your reply may give me room to look for another good person
for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I
stated herein.

Thanks and Remain blessed.

Yours sister in the Lord,

Mrs. Theresa Gross.

Anti-fraud resources: