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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: Michael Ansah <ansah_019@msn.com>
Reply-To: <ansah.michael09@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:10:18 +0000
Subject: DEAR SIR PLEASE HELP ME





DEAR SIR PLEASE HELP ME,

I HOPE THIS EMAIL IS REACHING YOU IN A GOOD HEALTH? MY NAME IS MICHEAL ANSAH AND I AM FROM SIERRA LEONE. I FOUND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS FROM A WEBSITE WHEN I WAS SEARCHING FOR A RELIABLE FOREIGN PARTNER. FOR SOMETIME NOW I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH DIFFICULTIES IN LIFE. IT ALL STARTED WHEN I LOST MY FATHER. MY FATHER WAS A GREAT OIL MERCHANT IN SIERRA LEONE, HE WAS INTO IMPORT AND EXPORT OF MAINLY CRUDE OIL. HE WAS POISONED BY ONE OF HIS BUSINESS COUNTERPARTS AFTER A DISPUTE OVER A BIG CONTRACT FROM A OIL COMPANY IN MY COUNTRY THAT WAS AWARDED TO MY LATE FATHER IN SIERRA LEONE.
AFTER THE DEATH OF MY FATHER HIS FAMILY MEMBERS MADE AWAY WITH ALL THAT MY FATHER HAD AND SENT ME AND MY MOTHER OUT OF MY FATHERS HOUSE AND SOLD THE HOUSE, WE COULD NOT FIND THEM AGAIN BECAUSE OF THE WAR THAT HAPPENED IN MY COUNTRY.
TWO WEEKS BACK MY MUM SHOWED ME SOME DOCUMENTS WHICH MY FATHER USED IN DEPOSITING THE SUM OF $9.8 MILLION DOLLAR IN A BANK IN GHANA AND THE PICTURES AT THE TIME HE WAS SIGNING THE AGREEMENT WITH THE BANK, AND HE USED MY NAME AS THE NEXT OF KIN. I WAS FILLED WITH JOY AND I TRAVELED TO GHANA WITH MY MOTHER,WE GOT TO THE BANK AND PRESENTED THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT WAS GIVEN TO MY LATE FATHER AT THE TIME HE DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH THE BANK,THEY ACCEPTED THAT THE MONEY IS STILL AVAILABLE BUT ON TRANSIT TO MY LATE FATHER FOREIGN PARTNER OVERSEAS BECAUSE MY FATHER STATED AT THE TIME OF DEPOSIT THAT THE FUND WILL LEAVE AFRICA ON TRANSIT TO HIS FOREIGN PARTNER OVERSEAS FOR OTHER PURPOSE. I DID NOT KNOW THAT MY DAD WAS PLANING OF OPENING A COMPANY ABROAD.

THEREFORE, WE WERE ADVISED BY THE BANK MANAGER TO GET A FOREIGN PARTNER WHO IS RELIABLE TO HELP US RECEIVE THE FUND FROM THE BANK OR TRAVEL DOWN HERE IN GHANA AND CLAIM THE FUND WITH ME AS MY LATE FATHER FOREIGN PARTNER, SO WE WANT YOU TO BE OUR FOREIGN PARTNER AND HELP US CLAIM THE FUND FROM THE BANK, I WILL AGREED TO GIVE YOU SOME PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL FOUND, PLEASE I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT I TRUSTED YOU AND I FEEL YOU CAN HELP ME AND MY MUM, THAT IS WHY I AM TELLING YOU THIS TOP SECRET. AS I AM WRITING YOU THIS EMAIL NOW MY EYES ARE FILLED WITH TEARS, BECAUSE MY MUM IS VERY SICK AND WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY HERE IN GHANA WE ARE LIVING WITH AN OLD LADY NAMED MRS CAROLINE KWESI WHO WORKS AS A GARDNER IN A COMPANY.

AFTER I HEAR FROM YOU I WILL SEND YOU THE DETAILS CONCERNING THE FUND.I WILL SEND YOU EVIDENCE OF DEPOSIT ISSUED TO MY LATE FATHER AT THE TIME HE DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH THE BANK, MY FATHERS PICTURES, AT THE TIME OF DEPOSITING THE FUND WITH THE BANK ,AND HIS CASKET DURING HIS BURIAL, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR MOBILE NUMBER IN WHICH I CAN USE TO REACH YOU.

I WAIT FOR YOUR URGENT REPLY.

GOD BLESS YOU,
SINCERELY,
MICHAEL ANSAH.



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