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: "Miss Fatima Kotoka" <fatimakotoka@att.net>
Reply-To: fatima.kotoka01@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:27:43 +0800
Subject: COMPLIMENTS OF THE DAY!!

Hello Sir/Madam,

I am sorry for using this medium of communication in contacting you, but it is based on the urgent nature of this deal which I'm about to present to you for your consideration. I am Miss Fatima Kotoka, a Ghanaian national and I am 23 years old, the only daughter of Late General Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka of Ghana Regiment, I am now in Isreal seeking for asylum, please I need your urgent assistance.

I am in position to claim the sum of $5.2M USD deposited by my father for onward transfer to his associate which I cannot reach at the moment. This money was intended for Hotel projects in that country. I am looking for a reliable person that will help me to secure this money as an associate of my father to enable us invest this money on any viable projects.

If you can represent my interest or if there is any other lucrative Business in your area of specialization to enable me us work together then I will not hesitate to detail you on your role in the transaction. As for your commission, I will let you know in the next mail.

Sincerely yours
Miss Fatima Kotoka

Anti-fraud resources: