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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: "JAMES KONAN" <james4s2@walla.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: james4s5@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:54:53 +0100
Subject: RE: GREETINGS FROM JAMES.

GREETINGS,

DEAR I THANK GOD IN THE FIRST PLACE FOR GRANTING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SEND THIS MAIL TO YOU. AND I KNOW MY LETTER WILL COME TO YOU AS A VERY BIG SURPRISE, PLEASE BEAR IT WITH ME AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY I HAVE IN MY PRESENT SITUATION. I GOT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS THROUGH THE INTERNET, WHEN I WAS SEARCHING FOR A RELIABLE GOD FEARING PERSON, WHO WILL NOT BETRAY ME IN THE COLLECTION OF FUNDS BELONG TO ME.

MY NAME IS JAMES KONAN, FROM COTE D'LVOIRE, NOW IN SENEGAL WITH MY YOUNGER SISTER BECAUSE OF CRISES IN MY COUNTRY. MY LATE FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY COCOA MERCHANT, BEFORE HE WAS ASSASSINATED BY THE REBEL DURING THE CRISES IN MY COUNTRY, AND HE DEPOSITED A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY (US$12.5 MILLION DOLLARS) IN A FINANCE HOUSE FOR FUTURE INVESTMENT BEFORE ASSASSINATED. AND NOW I WANT TO INVEST THIS MONEY IN YOUR COUNTRY. THEREFORE I WANT YOU TO CONTACT THE FINANCE HOUSE ON MY BEHALF SO THAT THE WILL TRANSFER THIS FUND TO YOUR ACCOUNT FOR INVESTMENT.

(1)YOU WILL MAKE ARRANGEMENT FOR ME AND MY YOUNGER SISTER TO COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY AND CONTINUE OUR EDUCATION.
(2) I WILL GIVE YOU 20% OF THE TOTAL MONEY FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE, THEN AFTER. I WILL SET ASIDE 5% FOR ANY EXPENSES THAT MIGHT BE INCURRED DURING THE CLOSING OF THE SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTION. THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU.

BEST REGARDS,
JAMES KONAN
james4uu@hotmail.com



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