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: Rosalinda Banah <rosal_banah@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: rosalinda_banah@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 16:08:14 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Message from Miss Rosalinda Banah to you

Message from Miss Rosalinda Banah to you


With due respect, I send my sincere greetings to you. My name is Miss Rosalinda Banah, 17 yrs old, an Ivorian from western city of San Pedro. I am presently taking refuge in Ghana because of the political crisis that is going on in our country presently.

My father was an Agricultural contractor, a cocoa beans exporter and a staunch member of FPI party (Laurent Gbagbo’s party) in San Pedro. My father was assassination along side with my elder brother by pro-Ouattara rebels, in the night they took the Port of San Pedro. I escaped the massacre with my little sister 9yrs old, but unfortunately, she was hit by stray bullet on our route of escape and she died instantly. I am now left without parents, brother and the most painful, my little sister whom I love so much.

Please, my reason of contacting you is that I need your urgent help to resettle my shattered life in your country. I want to let you know that there is this fund, Eight million United States dollars ($8,000,000.00) which is left in a suspense account of my late father in a bank outside our country, where he normally receives payment of his cocoa exports. This is the only money I can lay my hands on, to continue my education and face my future avenue.

Please, I am seeking your help to transfer and secure this money for investment purposes in your country. It is my wish to come over to your country to live with you and continue my studies. I also want you to help me to invest this money for me in a profitable business venture in your country, because I do not know about business, as I am only a student.

I am willing from my heart to compensate you with 30% of the total amount, if you would sincerely assist me. I will give you details about this fund, as soon as I get your positive response. Please, if you find this mail offensive, please ignore it and accept my apology.

Best regards,
Miss Rosalinda Banah

Anti-fraud resources: