419 scam: stephen Koffigoh <kokoukoffigoh@ukr.net> Dear friend,

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: stephen Koffigoh <kokoukoffigoh@ukr.net>
Reply-To: stephen Koffigoh <koffigohstephen123@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 20:57:36 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Dear friend,

Dear friend,

Please excuse me if I interfere into your privacy in this manner, I am Barrister koffigoh stephen, a solicitor at law and family attorney to a late citizen of your country who lives and work in Togo for many years before he died in a fatal car accident alongside his family while visiting a neighboring country on vacation. Ever since then as their family attorney, I have done everything possible to trace the relatives of my late client without any luck.

Most of his properties here are either vandalized by hoodlums or confiscated by the government. It's upon this that I decided to contact you in order to assist me in putting claims to the fund valued "US$8.5M" that he left behind for the mutual benefit of you and I before itâ€™s confiscated by the finance firm. I can assure you that there is no risk involved as everything is legal with documentation.

Meanwhile, you are required to forward your information such as:

Your full names ........................
Date of birth............................
Profession................................
Current Address.......................
Telephone & fax number...........
Email Address..........................

With this information's, I will proceed in submitting your name to the finance firm where this fund was deposited thereby presenting you as the SOLE next of kin to my late client for the subsequent release of the deposit to you in line with their routine process. Kindly get back to me for more details and clarifications, I wait on your swift response as time is of essence if we wish to succeed in this venture.

Kind regards,

koffigoh stephen (Esq.)

Address: 1389, Rue de L'Entente, Lome, Togo

Anti-fraud resources:

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