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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: "Miss Franca" <franca323@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: franca626@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:52:10 +0700
Subject: Hallo

LOT 421 COCODY
ABIDJAN
IVORY COAST
DEAR RESPECTFUL ONE,
PERMIT ME TO INFORM YOU OF MY DESIRE OF GOING INTO
BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.
I PRAYED OVER IT AND SELECTED YOUR NAME AMONG OTHER
NAMES DUE TO IT'S ESTEEMING NATURE AND THE
RECOMMENDATIONS GIVEN TO ME AS A REPUTABLE AND
TRUST WORTHY PERSON I CAN DO BUSINESS WITH AND BY
THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS I MUST NOT HESITATE TO CONFIDE
IN YOU FOR THIS SIMPLE AND SINCERE BUSINESS.
I AM FRANCA OSLO ,THE ONLY CHILD OF LATE CHIEF AND
MRS OSLO MY FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY COCOA MERCHANT
BASED IN ABIDJAN, THE ECONOMIC CAPITAL OF IVORY COAST
BEFORE HE WAS POISONED TO DEATH BY HIS
BUSINESS ASSOCIATES ON ONE OF THEIR OUTING TO DISCUSS
ON A BUSINESS TRIP.
WHEN MY MOTHER DIED ON THE 21ST OCTOBER 1995, MY
FATHER TOOK ME SO SPECIAL BECAUSE I AM MOTHERLESS.
BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY FATHER ON 24TH NOVEMBER 2002 IN
A PRIVATE HOSPITAL HERE IN ABIDJAN.
HE SECRETLY CALLED ME ON HIS BEDSIDE AND TOLD ME THAT
HE HAS A SUM OF US$10.7M (TEN MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED
THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) Deposited in a security
company in Greece, THAT HE USED MY
NAME AS HIS ONLY child FOR THE NEXT OF KIN IN DEPOSIT OF
THE FUND.
HE ALSO EXPLAINED TO ME THAT IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS
WEALTH THAT HE WAS POISONED BY HIS BUSINESS
ASSOCIATES, THAT I SHOULD SEEK FOR A FOREIGN
PARTNER IN A COUNTRY OF MY CHOICE WHERE I WILL
TRANSFER THIS MONEY AND USE IT FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSE
,(SUCH AS REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT)
I AM HONOURABLY SEEKING YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THE
FOLLOWING WAYS.
1) TO help me in the clearing of the fund from
the security company
2) TO SERVE AS THE GUARDIAN OF THIS FUND AND AS I AM
20 YEARS OLD girl AND I DO NOT ON HOW TO TRANSANFER
THIS FUND.
3) TO MAKE ARRANGEMENT FOR ME TO COME OVER TO YOUR
COUNTRY TO FURTHER MY EDUCATION AND TO SECURE A
RESIDENTIAL PERMIT FOR ME IN YOUR COUNTRY.
MOREOVER, I AM WILLING TO OFFER YOU 10% OF THE TOTAL
SUM AS COMPENSATION FOR YOUR EFFORT/INPUT AFTER THE
SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THIS FUND TO
YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT OVERSEA.
FURTHERMORE, YOU CAN INDICATE YOUR OPTION TOWARDS
ASSISTING ME AS I BELIEVE THAT THIS TRANSACTION WOULD
BE CONCLUDED WITHIN SEVEN (7) DAYS,
YOU SIGNIFY INTEREST TO ASSIST ME.
ANTICIPATING HEARING FROM YOU SOON.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS.
BEST REGARDS
Miss FRANCA OSLO


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