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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: Benjamin Asraf <kofimohaasraf@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 09:52:32 -0700
Subject: My greetings to you,

My greetings to you,

I know you will be surprise to read my email, apart from being surprise you
maybe skeptical to reply back to me because based on what is going on in
the internet world, one has to be very careful because a lot of scam are
out there to scam innocent citizen and this has made it very difficult for
people to believe anything that comes through the internet but this is a
different case. lf you are willing to show me your honesty and trust, i
will want you to help me in migrating to your country and investing my
funds.

My name is Benjamin Asraf, I'm the only son of late Mr. Mohammad Asraf, and
before the death of my Father he was the General overseer of the Diamond
Mine in Kane-ma Sierra Leone and also a big exporter of Diamond and Gold
from Sierra Leone and Ghana to London and also to India . My late father
gave me a secret concerning money he deposit in the Bank in my name as the
next of kin. He deposits the sum of 6,000,000.00 British Pounds (GBP) .

Dear, I need you to help me transfer this money to your Account, and as
soon as the money is transfer to your Account you will also help me to come
to your country and then we will invest the money in your country.
I will give you 15% of the money as soon as the money comes into your
Account. I need your help so much because my fathers relatives made some
attempts on my life in order to inherit my fathers wealth when i was 12
yeas old, so due to this attitude of my father's relatives, I decided to
run to Ghana, where i am presently living in Charity Home in Achimota Ghana.

I really do not mean to waste your time, Considering the fact that i need
you to help me transfer this money to your Account for an invest and you
know that as soon as the money is transfer to your Account you will also
help me to come to your country and we will invest the money in your
country . Please this fortune I have revealed to you should remain
confidential as it is only you who i have tell about this money my late
father deposit in my name as the next of kin, so do not tell anyone about
this OK.

Remain Blessed
Benjamin Asraf

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