419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: PAYMENTOFFICE PAYMENTOFFICE <paymentofficefinance@gmail.com>
Reply-To: anthonymore96@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2017 07:35:23 -0700
Subject: Re: Your long Over Due funds and Our Mandate from Econimic Community
of West African States(Ecowas).

From the desk of:Anthony Moore
Director
Legal Department
Bank of Ghana.

Re: Your long Over Due funds and Our Mandate from Econimic Community
of West African States(Ecowas).

We have received mandate from Ecowas to handle and coordinate the
rescue of long over due payments and ensure that beneficiaries/owners
of funds within West Africa are promptly paid.Accordingly,we are
contacting you exclusively to quickly bring your attention to the
following.

1.Based on complaints and reports by beneficiaries of funds within the
Ecowas sub region,Ecowas has through the instrumentality of its over
sight functions stepped into the issue of long over due funds and to
rescue beneficiaries/owners of funds from being deceived and
defrauded.

2.Premised on the above,we have been given the mandate to handle and
transfer all outstanding funds within the following Ecowas member
states viz Benin Republic, Burkina Faso,Cape verde,Cote
d'Ivoire,Gambia,Ghana,Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Liberia,Mali,Niger,Nigeria,Senegal,Sierra
Leone,Togo.

3.We have contacted you to specifically inform you that your long over
due funds have been placed and deposited with the bank of Ghana by
Ecowas from where it will be transferred to you through its direct
transfer instrumentality and through bank to bank.

4. You are promptly required to note the above and stop all
communications with those people and offices asking and requesting
money from you,as you are not required to pay any money to receive
your funds.

once we have completely carried out requisite due diligence and due
process inquiries in accordance with our mandate and procedures,the
money will be transfered to your immediately.

5. You are required to treat this letter as extremely exclusive and
confidential and urgent. You will be guided and directed once you have
replied this letter.

Thanking you in anticipation of your co-operation.

Yours faithfully,
,,,,,,,
Anthony Moore

Legal Department
Bank of Ghana
Accra,Ghana.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam