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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- nataliekuame@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Natalie" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:04:39 +0800
Subject: Hello
Hello Dear,
How is everything with you, your work and family hope all is well ? I found your email address while i was browsing through a directory in your country so i decided to write you in good fate;
Please i want to confide in you though i don't know you and i have not met you before but i just what to have faith in God believing that you could be the right person.
My health is in a critical condition and the last medical report confirmed that i have a very short time to live so because of this i want plead with you to help me take care of my only daughter and also help invest her in inheritance into a good business which you will manage while she continue her education in your country because i do not want my only daughter to suffer after i am dead and gone.
I am Mrs. Natalie from Sao Tome & Princip and I was a mistress to Mr. Kouame who was a Cocoa Merchant in Cote d'Ivoire , He died on the 3rd of September 2010 and suspected to have been poisoned by his partners in one of his business outing.
After his death the family drove me and my only daughter (SAMERA 17 YEARS OLD) out of the family residence and claiming that their late brother has a legally wedded indigenous wife with two children, I pleaded with them that my daughter should be allowed to stay but they refused, saying that my child is an illegitimate child because of their greediness.
But before the death of Mr. KOUAME he had given me secretly a certificate of deposit of a Bank where he has deposited some funds 3.8 Million USD with the name of my daughter as the next of kin to the bank account and none of his family member is aware of this money.
Please I am pleading with you in God's name to help get this fund and transfer it to your country on behalf of my only daughter and invest the money in a good business which you will manage while my daughter continue her education in your country.
Please if you can help us kindly reply me immediately to my Direct mail so that i can give you more details. nataliekuame@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Mrs. Natalie
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