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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: "eric_toure@cantv.net" <eric_toure@cantv.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 03:49:03 -0430
Subject: Hi,

Hi, 
How are you today? The very moment i saw your profile, i was convinced 
within my heart that i can trust you with all my heart but my only fear 
now is that i hope and pray you believe what i have to tell you. 
 
I am eric toure I am 22, My mother was an African American while my 
father was from the French speaking colony of Cote D' Ivoire. I was living 
with my mother not too far from Charleston building, USA. And i attended 
Charleston senior High School, 1201 Washington Street E, Charleston, WV. I 
lost my mother sometimes ago and after her death i came to meet my father 
for the very first time in Cote d' Ivoire West Africa, though he was also 
living in the states before he relocated back to Cote d' Ivoire to set up 
a business. 
 
Exactly two months and one week after i came to meet my father with the 
help of US consulates he died, he was very sick when i came to meet him. 
But before his death there were some documents he gave to me and he told 
me that everything he worked for in his life time is in the document and 
when i crosschecked the documents, i discovered that my late father 
deposited a package box that contents ($ 8.5 Million dollars) in a 
security company here in Cote D' Ivoire, my late father deposited the 
package box as family valuables package box. The reason he deposited the 
box with the security company was because of the political problem in this 
country. 
 
Why I am telling you this, is that i am just a boy and there is little or 
nothing i could do on my own and again if my late father's relatives here 
in Coted'Ivoire find out that my late father left that kind of money in my 
care, i don't know what they might do to me. So i need you to help me 
contact the security company and claim the deposited Item for me as my 
friend and Guardian, and take me along with you to your country. If you do 
this for me apart from love, i will also offer you 40% of the total money 
for helping me and I will also entrust my share of the money in your care 
for wise business investments since i am not exposed to the business 
world. 
 
Please dear, i requested for your trust and understanding because it might 
sound unbelievable but it is the truth. So please, kindly get back to me 
as soon as possible. 
 
Sincerely, 
Eric Toure

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