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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: "Kojo Atoapam" <kojo_atoapam03@colombia.com>
Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 06:36:58 -0700
Subject: Kindly reply


Dear Friend,
My name is Atoapm Kojo, I am the regional manager of Barclays bank of Ghana
Takwaa branch. Am writing you this mail for something very important, I am
happily married with four lovely kids. I have been a banker for almost 10
years.

I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit you and I, as the
regional manager of my branch 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 2007 business report, I discovered that my
branch in which I am the manager made Eighteen Million United State Dollars
($18M) USD. I have placed these funds under escrow account; this account is
strictly for onward transfer.
As an officer of this bank I cannot be directly connected to this money in
any way, so my aim of contacting you is to assist me receive this money in
your bank account and I will offer you 45% of the total sum as commission; I
will invest 50% of my share in your country provided it is profit oriented.
5% of the total fund will be set aside to reimburse all expenses to be
incurred in the course of running this transaction such as telephone and
other minor expenses.
All you need to do is to stand and claim as the original depositor and
beneficiary of the fund in my branch so that my head office can order the
transfer of the fund to your designated bank account. There are practically
no risks involved, it will be a bank-to-bank transfer.
Kindly indicate your private telephone and fax number for more efficient
Communication. Looking forward to your anticipated urgent response.


Thanks till I hear from you.

Mr. Atoapam kojo

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