joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
 Free trial for 30 days
   jwSpamSpy
Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "MR JOHN MENSAH" <john0_mensah@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: emma0_kzulu@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 11:06:52 +0100
Subject: URGENT MAIL.FOEM I,C,BANK

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK, HIGH STREET BRANCH, TAKORADI, GHANA.

DEAR MY NAME IS MR JOHN MENSAH I AM THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK, OF DAKAR BRANCH IN THE WESTERN REGION OF
TAKORADI. I GOT YOUR INFORMATION ON A RECENT BANK CONFERENCE WITH OTHER WEST
AFRICAN COUNTRIES HELD IN LOME THE CAPITAL CITY OF TOGO IN WEST AFRICA. I
WRITE YOU THIS PROPOSAL IN GOOD FAITH, I AM 42 YEARS OLD MARRIED WITH
TWO KIDS. I AM A DEVOTED CHRISTIAN AND A MAN OF PEACE. I HAVE PACKAGED A
FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL BENEFIT YOU AND I,AS THE REGIONAL
MANAGER OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK IT IS MY DUTY TO SEND IN A
FINANCIAL REPORT TO MY HEAD OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL CITY ACCRA AT THE END OF
EACH BUSINESS YEAR. ON THE COURSE OF THE LAST YEAR 2004 BUSINESS REPORT

, I DISCOVERED THAT MY BRANCH IN WHICH I AM THE MANAGER MADE FIVE
MILLIONS, US DOLLARS($5, MILLIONS DOLLARS WHICH MY HEAD OFFICE ARE NOT AWARE
OF AND WILL NEVER BE AWARE OF. I HAVE PLACED THIS FUNDS ON WHAT WE CALL
ESCROW CALL ACCOUNT WITH NO BENRFICIARY. AS AN OFFICER OF THIS BANK I
CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THIS MONEY, SO MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU
IS TO ASSIST ME RECEIVE THIS MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND GET 20% OF
THE TOTAL FUNDS AS COMMISSION. THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED,

IT WILL BE A BANK TO BANK TRANSFER, ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS TO STAND
CLAIM AS THE ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR OF THIS FUNDS WHO MADE THE DEPOSIT WITH MY
BRANCH SO THAT MY HEAD OFFICE CAN ORDER THE TRANSFER TO YOUR DESIGNATED
BANK ACCOUNT IF YOU ACCEPT TO WORK WITH ME I WILL APPRECIATE IT VERY
MUCH. YOU CAN REACH ME ON MY EMAIL AS APPEARED ON THIS MAIL IF YOU THINK
WE CAN WORK TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN GO OVER THE DETAILS.I WILL PROVIDE
MY PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS ON YOUR REQUEST,
THANKS YOU IN ADVANCE AND MAY

GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY


Anti-fraud resources: