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: "Cosmos Ezee" <coszee4@rediffmail.com>
Date: 1 Nov 2006 16:08:08 -0000
Subject: Thanks for your anticipated reply


From Barrister Cosmos Ezee Chamber,Suite 46, 7th Floor, Bar Beach Towers,COTONOU - BENIN REPUBLIC.Phone:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; +229 9732 8982.&nbsp;Dear Beloved,&nbsp;My Name is Barrister Cosmos Ezee Esq. of the above address and personal Attorney to one Mr. Franklin Brown a national of your country now late. He died on his way to a seminar in auto crash on the 30th day of April 2002. My late client was the Chief Executive officer of (African Development Oil Company) for 25 years and was retired on the 10th day of March 2002. He was re-contracted as a Petroleum Consultant to the company before this unfortunately incident occurred on the above date just after a month. He left all his credentials with my chamber for the drafting of his new contract agreement that will bind his new contract with African Development Company.&nbsp;Before his death my client made a numbered time (fixed) deposit for twelve calendar months valued at US$7.5M with a Bank in Cotonou, Benin Republic with op!
en beneficiary and No one will ever come forward to claim this fund since his sudden death and according to Cotonou Benin Republic Banking law the money will revert to the ownership of the Benin government if the account owner is certified dead and nobody comes forward to claim it after five years. So far the bank has just written my chamber a routine notification to provide&nbsp; the next of kin of my late Franklin Brown or have the account confiscated within the next (21) official working days.&nbsp;I would like to appoint you as the next of kin so that I can proceeds with forwarding the sum of US$7.5M to you for safe keeping and our sharing on 50% - 50% basis. I have all the necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make. All I require is your honest co operation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. &nbsp;Please acknowledge t!
his letter if you\'re minded to assist through my E-mail:&nbsp; coszee
@myway.com&nbsp;&nbsp; I will handle the whole process as soon as you respond back to this proposal indicating your interest to assist with your information such as your name, address and phone number. As soon as I received your information including your phone number, I will call you immediately for details.
Thanks for your anticipated reply.&nbsp;Barrister Cosmos Ezee Esq.COSZEE CHAMBERS. Tel: 00229 9732 8982.Reply to:&nbsp; coszee@myway.com

Anti-fraud resources: