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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "robert kojo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <robertkojo19@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 07:18:17 -0800
Subject: your urgent response

From:
Robert Kojo
Manager,
International Commercial Bank,
Kaneshie Branch, Accra-Ghana.
Email:robertkojo19@gmail.com
Sir,
You may be surprised to receive this offer since we have no previous communications. I write
to solicit your assistance in a funds transfer deal involving US$4.5M.This fund has been stashed out of the excess profit made last year by this branch of the International
Commercial Bank where I am the manager.
I have already submitted an approved Management Profitability Report for the year 2009 to my
head office here in Accra-Ghana and they will never know of this excess. This amount of US$ 4,500,000.00 is currently placed on a Non-Investment Account without a beneficiary.
Upon your response, I will configure your name on the database of the entire International
Commercial Bank as holder of the Non-Investment Account housing the funds. I will then guide you on how to apply to my head office for the Account Closure/ bank-to-bank remittance of
the funds to your designated bank account.
If you concur with this proposal, I intend for you to retain 40% of the funds while 60% shall be for me.
Sincerely,
Robert Kojo

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