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.JAMES KNIGHT" <officeone---393746@att.net>
Reply-To: jkofficem@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:35:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: URGENT REPLY FOR DETAILS INFO,


         
Address 125 Rod
Cotonou Benin Republic at Goverement office John
p

US Ambassador
to Benin Republic
 
Without mincing words, I am convinced 100% that you
have had bitter experience with various 'scammers' claiming to be high
government officials and thereby defrauding you of your 'hard-earned money'. The
activities of these scammers has changed your perspective about conducting
business on the internet, and you now believed there is no genuine business that
can be conducted on the internet. Well, I am an American and the internet was
created by Americans for the purpose of creating awareness for your
products/services and conducting genuine business with ease. I am fully
committed to deliver the "diplomatic consignment" to you in the United States in
order to differentiate myself from the many Benin Republic you have dealt with.
I am a full citizen of the United States , but I was on a Foreign Mission here
in Benin as a US Ambassador. Hence, I am making every efforts to ensure that no
citizen of the United States is cheated by Benin Republic .

Therefore, I
need your utmost support and understanding to actualize this dream. I also want
you to understand that I do trust you and I expect you to show me the same trust
and respect in return since trust is a 2-way street. On the other hand, trust is
a relationship of reliance. Trust also means being able to predict what other
people will do and what situations will occur.

Trust is both an emotional
and logical act. Emotionally, it is where you expose your vulnerabilities to
people, but believing they will not take advantage of your openness. Logically,
it is where you have assessed the probabilities of gain and loss, calculating
expected utility based on hard performance data, and concluded that the person
in question will behave in a predictable manner. In practice, trust is a bit of
both. I trust you because I have experienced your trustworthiness by merely
believing in what I have said, even when you have not seen me, and because I
have faith in human nature.

 
Frankly speaking, I understand
that anyone in your shoes will feel betrayed, but I still want you to show me
your trust by giving me the benefit of doubt on this delivery arrangement. My
identity and personality is verifiable, and I promise to deliver the consignment
to you in the United States without any hitch. Please do not allow this mission
to die off because of $79.00 dollars. I meant so well for you and I believe you
will appreciate me more when you have finally received your partial payment of
$2million dollars upon my arrival with the package in United States . I will use
my position and personality to deposit the $2 million dollars into your bank
account in the United States without questioning from the financial monitoring
authorities, since all documentations proving the legitimacy of the funds has
been processed.

Please don't see me as one of the numerous dubious Benin
republic you have dealt with in the past. I am a different person entirely and I
come from a different continent. I have the American spirit in me and I hate
cheaters. I promise to always uphold the national unity of the United States .
Please reply back ASAP and let me know your possibility of sending the $79.00
dollars today.

You can send it via western union Or Money Gram with
below name.

Reciever's name......... Mr. Nwekwu
Miracle
Country.......... Benin Republic ,
City........... Cotonou
,
Text Question.......God?
Answer..........Bless,
Amount
........$79usd, Only
Mtcn no.......
Sender'sname..... Sender address .........


     


Respectfully yours,
Mr.James Knight Emails:(jkofficem@gmail.com )
US
Ambassador to Benin Republic 00229-98091364





Anti-fraud resources: