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: Kobena Lawrence <kobena.lawrence@gmail.com>
Reply-To: kobenallawrence@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 19:33:49 +0200
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 banking details.............................
6. Your Occupation..................................
7. 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 Lawrence
Manager, Account's Department

Anti-fraud resources: