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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: charles koffi <charleskoffi1@cantv.net>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:17:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: GREETINGS


Greetings,
 
My name is Charles Koffi and my junior sister is Grace Koffi,we are from Sierra Leone in West Africa.Me and my sister arrived in Abidjan republic of Ivory Coast,a neighbouring country to Sierra Leone, through the mercy and the grace of God, if not we could have been dead in our country because our late father's brother wanted to inherit my late father's wealth and estates.Even now,he has forcefully collected all my father's properties like buildings and cars,e.t.c.
 
He and his wife always punish me and my sister, and have made life very difficult for us. The wife gave us a poisoned food, but by the special grace of God Almighty, me and my brother did not to eat the food. I threw away the food into the dust bin and the following morning,Me and my sister found the house pet,a cat, dead  in the dust bin after eating the poisoned food.This developement made me and my sister to run away immediately from Sierra Leone to Abidjan,the capital of Ivory Coast.We don't want to stay long here in abidjan because we do not know anybody here and again me and my sister do not have much pocket money to pay for our hotel bills.  
 
We are the only children of late Mr. Williams Koffi .Our late father was a  rich Gold and Diamond dealer before his death.Our mother died 21 years ago, precisely during the child birth of my kid sister.I am 23 years old and my sister is 21 years old.Me and my sister wish to continue our education in your country.
 
Before the death of our father in a private hospital in Freetown,Sierra Leone, he secretly called me by his hospital bed side and told me that he deposited  Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars(USD $10.5 Million)  for me and my sister in a Bank in Abidjan,Cote d'IVoire .Me and my sister want you to help us to transfer the fund to your account and secure it for us because we are too young to manage and keep this huge amount of money by ourselves. You will also help us to invest the money in your country. Me and my sister have agreed to give you 20% of the total money for your assistance.
 
I want you to be honest and sincere to me and my sister.It is our sincere hope that you will be honest to us  and we need assurance that you will not betray this trust and run away with our family money when the money is transferred to your bank account.

I wait for your urgent response so that i can give you details of the transaction.

Best regards,
Charles and Grace Koffi



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