419 scam: "Thompson Kojo" <k.c_james@att.net> ATTENTION PLEASE

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Thompson Kojo" <k.c_james@att.net>
Reply-To: <confidential@sohu.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:46:27 -0100
Subject: ATTENTION PLEASE

My Dear Friend,

I am Mr. Thompson Kojo Regional Manager, Allied Commercial Bank(ACB) Accra Ghana, please I know that this message will come to you as a surprise. I Hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to establish with you for our benefit, I have a transfer business deal to share with you from my bank to your country.

The funds belong to a late Spanish contractor here, he happen to be one of the victim in the 30 Dec 2006 bombs explosion in Madrid, I need your full support to transfer Ten million Two hundred Thousand dollars from the account into your account within 14 working days as one of the relatives.

All conformable legal documents to back up the claims will be obtain legally here, I shall be directing you as it is progressing, I don't want this money to go into our Bank recovery account as abandoned fund; I will come over to your country as soon as the fund is transferred successfully into your account. This is 50/50 business deal because of your ACCOUNT and SUPPORT, also this should be a confidential deal between you and i, delete it if you are not interested.

Upon the receipt of your reply and indication of your capability, I will send to you a draft text of application form to apply for the money and more details, I don't want anyone here in the bank to know my involvement during the process. I assure you that there is no risk involved.

PLEASE STATE YOUR INFORMATION BELOW TO KNOW YOUR CAPABILITY OF HANDLING THIS DEAL.

1. FULL NAME..........
2. TELEPHONE NUMBERS.......
3. YOUR AGE......
4. YOUR SEX.........
5. YOUR OCCUPATION........
6. YOUR COUNTRY AND CITY......
7. YOUR HOME ADDRESS..........
8. MARITAL STATUS............

My humble Regards
Mr. Thompson Kojo

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam