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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: "Mr James Kattoun" <kattounnnn@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jameskattounm@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2008 10:28:07 +0100
Subject: Dear beloved friend,


Dear beloved friend,

I know that this letter may be a very big surprise to you, I am giving you
my trust and wish you will give me back the trust i have given you . I
believe that you will be honest to fulfill my final wish before I will die.

I am Mr. James Kattoun , I am 58 years old, I am suffering from a long time
cancer of the brain .From all indication my condition is really
deteriorating, and my doctors have courageously advised me that I may not
live beyond the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has
reached a critical stage. I was brought up in a motherless babys home, and
was married to my late wife for twenty years without a child . My wife and
I are true Christians, but quite unfortunately, she was killed during the
(ABIDJAN- BOUAKE) Crisis some years back.

Since her death I decided not to re-marry, I sold all my belongings and
deposited all the sum of $10.2million dollars with a security company In
Cote D'Ivoire Abidjan, Where i lived with my Late wife all Our Life.

Presently, this money is still in their custody, and the management just
wrote me as the Legitimate beneficiary to come forward to receive the money
after keeping it for so long or rather issue a letter of authorization to
somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over as a result of
my illness, Presently,I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been
undergoing treatment. I have since lost my ability to walk about or do
anything by myself and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months
to live.

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested in any business of
your choice and the gain made every year or 6 months as the case may be,
distributed each year among the charity organization, the poor and the
motherless babys home where I come from. I want your good humanitarian, to
also use this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows around, 20% for
you , I must let you know that this was a very hard decision, but I had to
take a bold step towards this issue because I have no further option. I hope
you will help see my last wishes come true.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the security
company. I will also issue you a letter of authority, which will prove that
you are the new beneficiary of my funds. Please assure me that you will act
accordingly as
I stated herein.

Hope to hear from you soonest.

Awaiting your reply
Yours Sincerely
Mr James Kattoun

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