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: "Mercy Kings" <mercykings103@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mercykings55@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2014 06:23:26 +0800
Subject: I need your help


I need your help.

Permit me to inform you of my desire to go into business relationship with you
after going through your profile and I prayed over it and selected your name
among other names due to the nature of my proposal, which requires a reputable
and trustworthy person. Someone who will be kind and sincere to me.

l am Mercy Kings the only daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kings. My
father was a very wealthy cocoa merchant in Abidjan here, the economic capital
of Ivory Coast, he was poisoned to death by his only brother (My Uncle) and
his business associates on one of their business meeting. My mother died on
the 15th June 1991 and my father took me so special because l am motherless.

Before the death of my father on 21st December 2008 in a private hospital here
in Abidjan, he secretly called me on his bedside, when I sat down to listen to
him, he started crying, when I asked him why?

(1) He complained that I am too young to be managing my life with no one to
take care of me,(2)That I have not finished my university education as he
planned for me, he revealed to me that he has a sum of US$5.5 ,000,000.00(Five
Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) left in a security company
here in Abidjan, that he used my name as the only daughter for his next of kin
in deposit of the funds in the box.

He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was
poisoned by his only brother (My Uncle) and his business associates , that l
should stay away from them as they are evil he warned me seriously not
associate with his brother that is my uncle, that I should seek for a God
fearing foreign partner in a country of my choice where l will transfer this
money and use it for proper investment purpose ,that I must finish my
university education by the help of a business partner abroad, that he or she
should help me obtain a resident permit in his or her country.
He also gave a standing instruction to the company that the deposit must be
transferred outside this country. According to my father, the money was
deposited as art works to avoid attracting attention to the deposit.

I am now ready to do all these since my father my bread winner is no more. l
am honorable seeking your assistance in the following ways.
(1) To serve as my guardian in your country while I will depend on your expert
advice since l am a girl of 22 years.
(2) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country in order to
further my university education and to secure a residential permit for me in
your country.

Moreover, l am willing to offer you 10% of the total sum as compensation for
your assistance in the transfer of this deposit to your country.
Furthermore, you can indicate your option towards assisting me as l believed
that this project would be concluded within seven days you signify interest to
assist me by contacting the security company.
Hoping to hearing from you soon. May God bless you as you extend your helping
hand to the needy? Please you can contact me on my email address

(mercykings55@yahoo.com)

I wait your reply.
mercy kings

Anti-fraud resources: