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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ama Kwasi Kofuoh" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <amakwasikofuoh099@africamail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:23:44 -0800
Subject: GOOD DAY
Dear Sir/ Madam,
My greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.I am Mrs. Ama Kwasi Kofuoh from Accra Ghana. I am I am the daughter to late Chief Kwasi Kofuoh, who was a Gold merchant here in Accra Ghana and a contractor the the federal government.
He died two some months ago in a hospital here in Accra Ghana after a brief illness. Before the death of my father he deposited the sum of Fifteen Million Seven Hundred and Sixty Thousand United State Dollars (USD $15.760.000) in a safety company here in Ghana for my up keeping in case he is dead.
I am contacting you because i am looking for a trust and God fearing person that will help me to receive the money for me in his country.
Please i will want you to know that you are the only one i have seen his profile that is trust worthy and i am giving you my full trust and hope I don't want you to put my trust to shame. I will want you to help me receive this money in your country for me and i am willing to offer you %15 percent of the total money.
I will want you to mail me back as soon as you have receive this mail that i am writing you now.
LET ME KNOW YOU BETTER
.
Thanks and God bless you.
Regards,
Ama Kwasi Kofuoh
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Anti-fraud resources:
