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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: "dr.kofi james" <dr.kofijames12@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2014 22:43:09 +0000
Subject: Greetings,


>From Dr.Kofi James,
Phone: +233544059211

Greetings,

Please pay attention and understand my aim of e-mailing you today, my name
is Dr. Kofi James, regional branch manager Eco bank of Ghana. I ask you
consider this transaction with strict and utmost confidentiality. Being a
top executive at Eco bank Ghana, I discovered a numbered account with a
credit balance of $ 15.500, 000.00 USD (Fifteen Million Five Hundred
Thousand US Dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign
customers (Late Mr. Billy Lawrence) an American a gold merchant who
unfortunately lost his life and family, in an Auto Crash along abidipelle
Drive Accra Capital city of Ghana in September 7, 2004. With my position at
the bank, I have all access, secret details and necessary contacts to claim
these funds without any hitch. I only need your HELP as a foreigner to
assume the beneficiary, because my position as a civil servant and a staff
of the bank does not permit me or my relatives to make this claim.
Therefore, I want you to stand as the “Foreign Beneficiary", and I assure
you of a perfect transfer strategy that will be placed in your name
legally, so that nobody will suspect your claims.


For your assistance to achieve this greatness, you are entitled to 40% of
the total sum $ 15.500, 000.00 USD Upon consideration of the offer, please
provide me (Your full name, Contact address and your direct telephone/fax
number) to enable me re-profile the fund to your name as the beneficiary
and guide your contact with Eco bank of Ghana for the release and transfer
of the fund to any bank account of your choice. So, considering the volume
of discretion required for success of this project, i ask your reply to my
private email:Dr.kofijames0@outlook.com, feel free to call me for clear
explanations. Thanking you in anticipation of your immediate reply.

Note: if you receive this message in your junk or spam its due to your
internet provider.


Regards,

Dr. Kofi James

Regional Branch Manager

Anti-fraud resources: