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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: John Thomas Kofi <valhagan98@gmail.com>
Date:
Subject:

MY REGARDS TO YOU,

My name is Mr. John Thomas Kofi, branch manager of a financial
institution. I contacted you through a trusted source called the Ghana
Chamber of Commerce Database. I am Ghanaian, married and have 3
children. I am writing to ask for your assistance in transferring
$14,500,000. This fund is an excess of the profits of my branch, in
which I am a manager, for the last year (that is, for the 2022
financial year). After sending the annual report for the past year to
my headquarters in Accra, Ghana on December 24, 2022, I noticed with
great interest that they were not aware of this excess. I deposited
this amount of $14,500,000.00 in escrow with no beneficiaries
(anonymously) to avoid being traced.

As a bank teller, I cannot have a direct relationship with this money,
so I have to ask you for help in transferring this money to your bank
account on my behalf. I agree that 40% of this money will go to you as
a foreign partner to provide an offshore account and 60% will go to me
and I will join you in your country once the fund reaches your
investment plan account. I must emphasize that there is practically no
risk associated with this. This will be a bank transfer OR an online
transfer. All I need from you is to introduce yourself as the original
contributor to this fund so that the fund can be deposited into your
account.

If you accept this offer, I look forward to your timely response. This
is the reason and the only reason I contacted you. Thanks to your rich
experience, I am ready to participate in an investment partnership
with you. So please if you are interested. To help with this endeavor,
please contact me for a quick chat on how to proceed.

Sincerely,
Mr John Thomas Kofi,

Anti-fraud resources: