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: Mr William Kodjo <wiliko1@hotmail.fr>
Reply-To: <kodjow01@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2007 20:15:59 +0100
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL



Mr.William Kodjo Bank of AfricaI am Mr.William Kodjo. head of Auditing, Bank of Africa Benin.On Wednesday 19 April 2000, one Mr. Andreas Schranne, German National, a property magnate, whom I was his accounting officer made a numbered time(Fixed) Deposit, valued at $6,550,000.00 (Six Million,Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand USD) for twelve calendar months in my Bank Branch. Upon Maturity, we sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered that Mr.Andreas Schranne, his wife and only daughter was aboard the plane Boeing 727, which crashed Friday, 26th of December 2003 .You can read more about the crash on visiting this site www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/ My investigation proved that he died with his supposed next of kin (the daughter Mrs.Camila Eich)Was in the crash. The total sum, $6,550,000.00 is still 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. Consequently, I shall present you to stand in as the next of kin to the late Mr. Andreas Schranne. Consequently, upon acceptance of this proposal, I will give you detailed information on how this deal would be carried out. The money will be shared in the ratio:sixty five percent (65%) for me, thirty five percent(35%) for you. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law as I will use my position as the Bank's head of Auditors and his accounting officer to secure approvals and guarantee the successful execution of this transaction. Please be informed that your utmost confidentiality is required. On your reply include your

(1)Private telephone/fax number. (2)Your full name (3) your address. Awaiting your urgent reply. Best regards, Mr.William Kodjo
_________________________________________________________________
Make every IM count. Download Windows Live Messenger and join the i’m Initiative now. It’s free. 
http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=TAGWL_June07

Anti-fraud resources: