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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Michael Cohen <call4cohen@gmail.com>
Reply-To: write2cohen@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 13:23:44 +0100
Subject: Good day,


Good day,

With a heart deep humiliation and persecution we are writing to you to seek
your permission to go into a business partnership with you, for the legal,
truthful and Godly relationship. I am Michael Cohen 22 years old the only
son of late Mr and Mrs Serge Cohen and my sister Melissa Cohen 19 years
old, we are from Sierra Leone. My father was a wealthy cocoa merchant in
Africa, my father died of food poisoning during one of his business outings
in France with his close friend and business associate who happens to be
main conspirator to my father's painful death. My mother died long ago when
my sister was a baby and since then my father took us special. We are now
in Port Novo capital city of Benin Republic a small West African country.
Our reason of been here is for the release of our late father’s money which
he used me as his next of kin.

Before the untimely death of my father in a private hospital, he secretly
called me on his sick bed side and told me that he has the sum of Five
million five hundred thousand United State Dollars. (US$5.500,000), left in
fixed/suspense account in a bank in Cotonou Benin Republic, he used my name
as his only son for the next of Kin in depositing of the fund. Now we are
here for the past two weeks now for the possible release of the money to me
but i was surprised when the bank refused showing an agreement they had
with my late father. It was proved that My late father had an agreement
with the bank that in-case of his untimely death, that I should reach the
age of 25 before I can have access to the money or alternatively I should
nominate a foreign partner of my choice that will stand as my guardian to
help me transfer this money to his account for a proper investment purpose
in real estate, hotel management or any other lucrative business profit
yielding venture.

Note: I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for
your effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund to your
nominated bank account. Please make sure that you write me very fast, it is
urgent.

Anticipating to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Michael & Melissa Cohen.

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