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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: Gladys Konan <gladyskonan11@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Gladys Konan <gladys_konan@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 20:37:16 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Waiting your reply soon


Hi Dear, 
I hope my letter meets
you in good health. Please do not be offended to receive this email from me, I
am contacting you due to my present situations so that you will come to my aid.
I am Miss Gladys Konan from Ivory Coast, my father Mr. Raymond Konan died during
the last political crisis in my country. Right now i'm an orphan and had no
brother, or sister or mother. I need your help to transfer the sum of US$3.7m
(Three million seven hundred thousand US Dollars) which i inherited from my
late father. My late father acquired the money genuinely through his Gold
business in the country before his death, and he deposited it in a fixed
deposit account in the bank with my name as next of kin. I went to the bank
concerning the account and they required me to provide my guardian or caretaker
who will receive the money on my behalf due to my age, because my late father
signed agreement bond with the bank in which he instructed the bank that in
case of his death the bank should not release the money to me until i reach 25
years old. But i have right to appoint reliable person of my choice as guardian
or caretaker to receive the money from the bank on my behalf.
 
Presently, my wicked
uncle and his wife are threatening my life over my late father's properties, so
i decided to run away from the family house with all documents of the deposit
to hide myself somewhere in my country where they cannot locate me. I want to
travel out of the country as soon as possible to further my education and
invest the money in good business in your country. Please, I want to choose you
as guardian or investment partner and present you to the bank for the transfer
of the money into your account, immediately after the transfer I will come over
to your country to live and continue my education while you will help me to
invest the money in good business. I am willing to reward you with 20% of the
total money after successful transfer into your account for your help. I
promise to keep my discussion with you confidential while you help me to handle
the transaction with the bank. I wait for your reply urgent.
 
Thanks,
Gladys Konan.

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