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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: kobena lawrence <kkoob34@msn.com>
Reply-To: <kobenallawrence@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:21:23 +0000
Subject: Dear Friend,




Dear Friend,Firstly,
i must solicit your trust and confidence in this transaction due to
it's nature as being utterly confidential. I also know that a
transaction of this nature will make any one apprehensive since there
was no previous correspondence between us. But i am assuring you that
with your cooperation, all will go well at the end of the day.
I am Mr. Kobena Lawrence, a staff of United Bank for Africa (UBA),Ghana and the account's manager.I
was the Account's officer to the Late Muammar Gaddafi, the late Libyam
president who deposited the sum of US$15.5m(Fifteen Million Five Hundred
Thousand United States Dollars) in our Bank.
My
business proposition to you is stated as follows. As you know, this
fund can never be claimed by the family of the late Muammar Gaddafi
since they are all wanted for crimes in Libya. I want us to partner so
that i change the ownership of this fund to your name and transfer it to
an account you will provide. Due to my position in the bank, i can not
lay claims to this fund on my my own because it would be suspicious, which is why i need your partnership.
Also,
transactions of this kind requires the services of an attorney at Law
who will secure the documents we would require for the transfer of
this fund to your account. I will give you the guidelines on how to
contact an attorney when you indicate uncompromising readiness to
partner with me.
On
interest indication, you are required to kindly send the information
below to enable me configure your name on our data base as the depositor
of the said fund and then commence the process of making the transfer
to your account.
1. Full Name ........................................2. Private tel........................................3. Your Age..........................................4. Your Country.....................................5. Your Occupation..................................6. A scan Copy of Your Passport/Driver's Licence
However, if this business proposition offends your moral ethics, kindly accept my sincere apologies.
Best Regards,Mr. Kobena LawrenceManager, Account's Department

Anti-fraud resources: