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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: benson addo <bensonhaddo@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 05:33:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Greetings


From: Mr Addo benson
Tel: + 233-24-2149336
Email bensonkaddo@hotmail.com


Dear Friend,


I have a proposal for you - this however is not mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honor against your will.

I have to introduce myself first; my name is Addo benson a banker working with one of the leading banks in West Africa. In this bank existed a dormant account for the past years, which belong to a Syrian national who is now late. When we discovered that there had been neither deposits nor withdrawals from this account for some time I decided to carry out a system investigation and discovered that none of the family member or relations of the owner is aware of this account. This is the story in a nutshell. Now I want an account overseas where I can transfer these funds.

Thereafter, I had planned to destroy all related documents for this account. It is a careful network and for the past six months I have worked out everything to ensure a hitch-free operation.

The amount at the moment, plus all the accumulated interest in this account stands at US$52,000,000.00 (Fifty-two million US dollars).

Now our questions are: -

1. Can you handle this project?
2. Can I give you this trust?
3. What will be your commission?

Consider this and get back at me as soon as possible.
Finally, it is my humble prayer that the information as contained here in is accorded the necessary attention, urgency as well as the secrecy it deserves.

I hope my message did not come as an embarrassment to you, but if it does please kindly accept my apologies.

Thanks in anticipation.

Respectfully yours,

Mr. Addo benson
(Ghana, West Africa)


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