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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: Stephanie <sleo201@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Stephanie <stephenieleo4@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2017 03:24:31 +0900 (JST)
Subject: My Humble Request!

My name is Stephanie Leo. I’m the only child/daughter of late engineer Gerald Leo. My father was a very wealthy oil & gas entrepreneur in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He also had extensive investments in real estates and agricultural sectors. My father was poisoned to death by my uncles out of envy.

My mother died when I was just 4 years old. Before the death of my father in a private hospital here in Abidjan on March 2016, he secretly called me on his bed side and told me that he has the sum of (USD$ 7,500,000.00) Seven million, five hundred thousand United states dollar only in a fixed deposit account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan and he used my name as his next of kin. He further explained to me that my uncles poisoned him because of his wealth. He advised that I should search for a foreign
partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investments such as real estates or food processing plant.

Please, I am honorably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
(1) To provide a bank account into which this money would be transferred to.
(2) To serve as the investment manager of this money.
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country and continue my education
(4) To secure a resident permit for me in your country.

Moreover, I'm willing to offer you 20% of the total sum as compensation for your effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund into your bank account. Please indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within few days you signify your interest to assist me.
With Kind Regards
Stephanie Leo.

Anti-fraud resources: