419 scam: Charlaine Kone <charlainekone@gmail.com> My dear Friend,

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- charlainekone@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Charlaine Kone <charlainekone@gmail.com>
Reply-To: charlainekone@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:22:38 +0100 (BST)
Subject: My dear Friend,

My dear Friend,
How are you today my dear, my name is Charlaine Kone, I am 54 years old Swedish woman. I am currently admitted in the hospital for a treatment of a brain tumor which I have been suffering for 8 years now. As a matter of fact I am contacting you because I want to make a humanitarian gesture to the location of all sensitive souls. My late husband and I had mobilized a small fortune which I want to invest in humanitarian works. But considering my health condition now, I can no longer fulfill this project by myself.
I want you to complete this project on my behalf in good faith. I am contacting you after my few days prayers with believe that you are God's chosen one to accomplish this project in good faith for the help of orphan and widows.
For a favorable opinion, please contact me at this email (charlainekone@yahoo.com) for more information.
Thanks and God bless you.Madam Charlaine Kone

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam