joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

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:

Fraud email example:

From: "KOJO MENSAH" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 30 May 2014 20:01:14 -0700
Subject: KOJO MENSAH

DEAR SIR,

MY NAME IS MR. KOJO MENSAH; I AM THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK GHANA LTD IN THE WESTERN REGION OF GHANA. I GOT YOUR INFORMATION FROM A FRIEND WHO IS A MEMBER OF OUR TRADE MISSION. I WRITE YOU THIS PROPOSAL IN GOOD FAITH. I AM 42 YEARS OLD MARRIED WITH TWO LOVELY KIDS.
 
I HAVE PACKAGED A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL BENEFIT YOU AND ME TO BE SAVED FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS. AS THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK GHANA; IT IS MY DUTY TO SEND IN A FINANCIAL REPORT TO MY HEAD OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF ACCRA AT THE END OF EACH BUSINESS YEAR.
 
IN THE COURSE OF THE LAST YEAR BUSINESS REPORT, I DISCOVERED THAT MY REGION IN WHICH I AM THE MANAGER MADE FIFTEEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATE  DOLLARS ($15, 500.000.00) WHICH MY HEAD OFFICE ARE NOT AWARE OF AND  WILL NEVER BE AWARE OF.
 
I HAVE PLACED THESE FUNDS IN A SUSPENSE ACCOUNT WITH NO BENEFICIARY. FUND DEPOSITED IN A SUSPENSE ACCOUNT IS CONSTANTLY REVIEWED WITH THE INTENTION OF TRANSFERRING IT TO THE APPROPRIATE ACCOUNT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
 
ALL IT TAKES FOR THIS MONEY TO BE DIVERTED TO YOUR ACCOUNT IS A CONCERTED EFFORT TO PREPARE VERIFIABLE PAPERS INDICATING THE ORIGIN OF THE MONEY AND THE VALIDATION OF ACCOUNTS.
 
IT WILL BE A BANK TO BANK TRANSFER. ONCE THE MONEY IS TRANSFERRED TO YOUR ACCOUNT, I WILL WRITE A REPORT ABOUT THE SUSPENSE ACCOUNT CLAIMING THAT THE UNCERTAIN BALANCES WERE RECONCILED WITH THE APPROPRIATE ACCOUNT.
 
ONCE THE PAPER WORK IS AUTHENTICATED THE FUND WILL BE RELEASED TO YOUR DESIGNATED ACCOUNT WITHIN 48 HOURS AND THE SUSPENSE ACCOUNT WILL REMAIN AT ZERO.
 
ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS TO STAND CLAIM AS THE ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR OF THIS FUND WHO MADE THE DEPOSIT WITH MY BRANCH SO MY HEAD OFFICE CAN ORDER THE TRANSFER TO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT.
 
AS AN OFFICER OF THIS BANK I CAN NOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THIS MONEY. SO, MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME RECEIVE THIS MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND GET 25% OF THE TOTAL FUNDS AS COMMISSION.
 
THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED. I GUARANTEE THAT THIS TRANSACTION WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW.
 
I LOOK FORWARD TO DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU IN THE FUTURE!
 
YOURS TRULY,
 
MR. KOJO MENSAH,
(SENIOR MANAGER)
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK LTD, GHANA
ICB TAKORADI BRANCH

Anti-fraud resources: