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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: "Theresa Coleman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <theresa121@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 10:38:44 -0000
Subject: From Mrs Theresa and Son

>From Mrs Theresa Coleman and Son,
Cote D'Ivoire,West Africa.

Attn,

Calvary greetings to you and your family.

My name is Mrs Theresa Coleman, a citizen of Sierra - Leone , wife of late Patrick Coleman , who before his death was the person managing the Sierra - Leone gold and diamond corporation( SGDC ). I hope you are aware of the war which have ravaged my country for the past years now . It was in one of this attacks by the rebels that led to the death of my husband and three of my children , now I am left with only my last son David . I was terrified of the situation and because of this I escaped with my son David from Sierra - Leone to cote d' Ivoire into a refugee camp. Before I left for Abidjan , I took with me the certificate of Deposit and Agreement of Deposit which my late husband kept on his safe including an instruction letter for me and my son to find someone to assist us get this box out of the security company in Abidjan Cote dÌvoire. This box in question contains in cash the some of Seven Million, Five Hundred United States of American Dollars ( 7.500.000.00 USD)

My aim of contacting you is to seek for your able assistance as a front in transferring this fund abroad into an account , then as a business developer , you can help us to invest wisely in areas you deem lucrative and finally obtain a residential permit for us to stay comfortably in your country or abroad . Presently we cannot go back to Sierra- Leone because of the situation there and you know that cote d' Ivoire where we are now is politically unstable; we therefore wish you could help us get out of here before it becomes worst. We are prepared to offer you 10% of the total funds for your able assistance and support and would give you further information to enable you assist us once we favourably hear from you . Finally I implore you to treat this transaction with secrecy and confidentiality for security reasons.
Also note any amount of money you might have spent in the course of this transaction will be paid back to you before the final disbursement in your country

Thanking you in anticipation and God bless.

Mrs Theresa Coleman and Son David.

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