joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Natacha Ajeh" <natacha1b4@att.net>
Reply-To: <n_ajeh@rediffmail.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 17:52:11 -0800
Subject: FROM NATACHA AJEH.

Dearest One,
Good day, how are you and your family? hope all is fine by God grace. Please I am 17 years miss Natacha Ajeh the only child of my late parents { Chief. Stephen Ofori and Mrs Comfort Ajeh } presently I am staying in a church here in Ghana because i do not have any place to go to, my uncles sent me out of my father's house and took his properties, they said that i am a female child that i do not have any right in the family.
The main reason i run to stay here is due to the present political problem in my country Ivory Coast.
My father established his cocoa and gold business in Accra Ghana, and he died shortly of heart attack, His death has now made me an orphan and i am exposed to danger. Before my father died,he called me by his bed side and reveal to me about some funds $9.7 million U.S.Dollars and some gold dust that he packed inside two metallic trunk boxes which he deposited with a Security Company here in Accra Ghana as a family treasure. He told me that he used my name as his only child as his next of kin to the deposit and in case he fails to make it that I should seek for a foreign partner that will invest the money for me.
I have all the papers with me here but the security company don't want to release the deposit due to that they and my father had an agreement that i should provide a foreign partner before they will release the deposit.
I am humbly seeking your assistant to avoids the officials from raising eye brows to the funds.

Please all i am asking is for you to kindly help me stand before the company as my foreign beneficiary partner or my guardian to receive the trunk boxes in your country so that i can come over to meet you and continue my education. Please stand for me and help me claim the trunk boxes so that i will come there for my medical school.
You will also help me for the investment of the fund in any good business there in your country, i will be very glad if you can come to Ghana here to meet me so that i will take you direct to the company. I am willing to offer to you 15% of the total sum as a compensation for your help.
I will need you to come down here so that you will be very sure of what you are about doing and i am willing to return back with you to your country for a better future.

Waiting for your kind response.

Thanks.

Natacha.

Anti-fraud resources: