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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: "Mr Jame Koko" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrjamesnn01@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2014 02:49:46 -0700
Subject: RE: THANK YOU

Dear Friend,

I wish to contact you on a good business which I want you to assist
me, receive this fund into your bank account in your country.I am the
manager of Barclays Bank of Ghana Ltd in (Tema branch) a family man
and a man of peace. I discovered this money Five million, Five hundred
and Forty thousand united state dollars (USD$5,540.000.00) On the
course of last year ending 2013 business financial report as the
excess profit made in my branch office.

I had already submitted an approved end of the year financial report
to my head office here in capital city Accra and they will never know
of this excess and I have placed this amount on an Escrow Call Account
without a beneficiary. As an officer of this bank I cannot be directly
connected to this money and all I need from you is to stand claim as
the original depositor of these funds who made the deposit in my
branch. Upon your response, I will configure your names/information
on our database as holder of the Escrow Call Account. I will then
guide you on how to apply to my head office for the Account Closure/
bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to your designated bank account.

I will give you further details upon your acceptance of this proposal.
I also intend that you shall retain 35% of the total funds as your
percentage. Kindly forward your response to indicate your interest.

Thanks for your assistance,

Sincerely Yours,
Mr Jame Koko

Anti-fraud resources: