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: "Mr. Goodluck Adom" <mrgadom6@livedoor.com>
Reply-To: mr.gadom001@live.com
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:32:42 +0100
Subject: GREETINGS TO YOU MY DEAR FRIEND.


From: Mr. Goodluck Adom
Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana,
Takoradi Branch.
Phone: +233245751939.

My Dear Friend,

My name is Mr. Goodluck Adom. I work with the Standard Chartered Bank of
Ghana as the Regional manager, Takoradi Branch, in the Western Region of
Ghana.

I am 44 years old with two lovely kids. I have packaged a transaction that
will be of mutual benefit to us. As the branch manager of Standard Chartered
Bank of Ghana, it is my duty to send a financial report to my head office in
the capital city, Accra, at the end of each financial year.

Following the release of the 2006 fiscal year, I discovered that my branch
made six million five hundred and thirty thousand united state dollars
($6,530,000.00); from the transactions accruing to the account of the Inland
Revenue Service (IRS). This was not detected by the renowned auditors from
my head office.

I have moved the funds into what the bank call Escrow Call Account with no
beneficiary. Meanwhile as you know I can not be directly connected to this
money for obvious reasons. So my contacting you is to assist me receive the
funds in your bank account in your country; which I know is possible if you
liaise properly with me and get 30% of the total funds as your benefit.

The transfer would be made via swift and it will be a Bank-to-Bank wired
transfer. All I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of
this fund. I will compute your particulars as the person who made the
deposit in my branch, so that my head office will immediately order the
transfer to your designated bank Account.

Call or mail me if you think we can work together, on +233245751939.

Thanks for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours truly,
Mr. Goodluck Adom
Branch Manager.

Anti-fraud resources: