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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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Fraud email example:

From: "williams mensah" <williamsmensah2000@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: williams_mensah4u@walla.com
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:03:31 -0600
Subject: WITH ALL DUE PLEASURE LET US WORK TOGETHER

BARCLAYS BANK OF GHANA, HIGH STREET BRANCH,TAKORADI KANESHIE, GHANA.

MY NAME IS WILLIAMS MENSAH I AM THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF BARCLAYS BANK OF
GHANA,OF KANESHIE BRANCH IN THE WESTERN REGION OF TAKORADI. I WRITES YOU
THIS PROPOSAL IN GOOD FAITH, I AM 42 YEARS OLD MARRIED WITH TWO KIDS I
PACKAGED THIS FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL BENEFIT YOU AND I,AS THE
REGIONAL MANAGER OF THE BARCLAYS BANK OF GHANA .

IT IS MY DUTY TO SEND IN A FINANCIAL REPORT TO MY HEAD OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL
CITY ACCRA AT THE END OF EACH BUSINESS YEAR. ON THE COURSE OF THE LAST YEAR
BUSINESS REPORT.I DISCOVERED THAT MY BRANCH IN WHICH I AM THE MANAGER MADE
THREE MILLION, US DOLLARS($3 MILLION DOLLARS WHICH MY HEAD OFFICE ARE NOT
AWARE OF AND WILL NEVER BE AWARE OF.

I HAVE PLACED THIS FUNDS ON WHAT WE CALL ESCROW ACCOUNT WITH NO BENEFICIARY.
AS AN OFFICER OF THIS BANK I CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THIS MONEY, SO
MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME TO RECEIVE THIS MONEY IN YOUR BANK
ACCOUNT AND GET 20% OF THE TOTAL FUNDS AS COMMISSION.

THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED, IT WILL BE A BANK TO BANK TRANSFER.
ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS TO STAND AS THE ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR OF THIS FUNDS WHO
MADE THE DEPOSIT WITH MY BRANCH SO THAT MY HEAD OFFICE CAN ORDER THE
TRANSFER TO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT.IF YOU ACCEPT TO WORK WITH ME I
WILL APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH AND YOU CAN REACH ME ON MY EMAIL AS APPEARED ON
THIS MAIL IF YOU THINK WE CAN WORK TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN GO OVER THE
DETAILS.MY PRIVATE PHONE NUMBER IS 00233-2421-30045
EMAIL:williams_mensah4u@walla.com FOR MORE DETAILS THAT MIGHT REQUIRED FROM
YOU.

I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR FROM YOU FROM YOUR GOOD HEART AS SOON AS YOU
ACESS THIS MAIL AND TO ENABLE ME SEND YOU MY INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT AND MY
BANK ID CARD FOR PROPER IDENTIFICATION OF WHOM YOU ARE DEALING.
BEST REGARDS,
WILLIAMS MENSAH .


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