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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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: anna_ankoh@zipmail.com.br
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 19:47:17 -0800
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?good=20day?=

MISS ANNA KOFI ANKOH

Dear sir/madam
COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON.I KNOW THAT THIS MAIL
WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPIRSE BUT IT IS ONLY
BECAUSE OF THE CONDITION I FOUND MYSELF.BEFORE PROCEEDING,
I WILL LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF PROPERLY TO YOU.MY
NAME IS MISS ANNA KOFI ANKOH,AM 26 YEARS OF AGE I AM FROM
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO,WAR ZONE! SINCE FOUR
YEARS AGO.THOUGH, I AM NOW AN ORPHAN BECAUSE THE WAR
CLAIMED THE LIFE OF BOTH MY FATHER AND MOTHER
LEAVING ME AND MY YOUNGER BROTHER BY NAME FESTUS ANKOH
ALONE.PLEASE RATHER THAN WASTING MY TIME REPEATING
MYSELF, I SUGGEST YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO MY PLEA AND
COMPREHEND MY POINTS CLEARLY. ONCE YOU DO THAT,I
BELIEVE IT WILL NARROW YOUR VIEW AND ENABLE YOU FACE
THE TRUE FACT.MEANWHILE DUE TO THE WAR IN MY
COUNTRY,AM NOW RESIDING IN REPUBLIC OF BENIN AND I
ENTERED THERE WITH MY BROTHER AS A REFUGEE. INSTEAD OF
WASTING TIME,IT IS BETTER I NARRATE MY PROBLEM TO
YOU FOR HELP NOW,BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY FATHER
MR.MICHEAL ANKOH,HE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF $US13MILLION
DOLLARS WITH MY NAME AS THE BENEFICIARY. THE MONEY IN
QUESTION IS STILL IN FINANCE COMPANY HERE IN BENIN AWAITING
MY CLAIM BUT AS A REFUGEE, I DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO
LAY CLAIM ON IT AS I DO NOT HAVE ACCOUNT HERE. IT IS
BECAUSE OF THESE THAT MADE ME TO REACH YOU SO THAT
YOU CAN HELP US IN ACCOMODATING THIS MONEY WHERE IT WILL
BE SAFE BEFORE WE DEPART FROM THIS COUNTRY.WHAT I
REALLY NEED FROM YOU NOW, IS YOUR FULL NAME AND
MAILING ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN START FOR THE CHANGE
OF OWNERSHIP TO THAT OF YOURS.ONCE YOU FURNISH THIS TO
ME, I WILL PROCEED TO COURT TO SECURE A FORM FOR THE
AFFIDAVIT THAT WILL ENPOWER ME TO CHANGE IT INTO
YOUR NAME AS THE NEW BENEFICIARY.FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I
HAVE ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS TO THIS.EVEN, I CAN
SEND YOU A PICTURE OF THE MONEY IN QUESTION FOR
PROOVE BECAUSE MY FATHER SNAPPED THE MONEY BEFORE
DEPOSITING IT.
PLEASE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME THAT YOU SEND A COPY
OF YOUR MESSAGE TO THIS MAIL BOX anna_ankoh2@yahoo.com
MAY GOD BE WITH YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.
BEST REGARDS.
MISS ANNA KOFI ANKOH




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