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: Alex Konadu <alexakonadu03@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 04:31:16 -0700
Subject: FROM MR ALEX KONADU.

Dearest One,

I am a staff of a Bank,We had a client from Europe resident in Abidjan.He was a Cocoa Buyer/Exporter in Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire. He had a deposit of Four million, two hundred and some fraction ($4.2m) dollars In his account with my bank. Unfortunately for him and his entire family died in the Cote D'Ivoire War four years ago, Untill today non-of his next of kin or any other person has come forward to claim the fund as they are no more.As it is the bank will soon declare the fund as anclaimed fund and sent it to the state treasury.So as the head of the accounts department, I wish to forward you as a partner and beneficiary to the fund and have the fund transfer into your account for a joint investment in your country. If this proposal is ok by you then get back to me to furnish you with what it will take us and how to go about the transaction.

Yours faithfully
Alex Konadu.

Anti-fraud resources: