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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: CHARLES COSMOS <charlescosmos2@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 00:04:02 +0100
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION:
Dear sir / madam,
My name is Charles T. Cosmos. I am a lawyer based
here in Lome Togo Republic.
I had a client, Mr. Alex S., a contractor
who died in an auto accident with his wife and only child in 2009 in
Togo.
My client had an Estate and a deposit of about US$9.5m here in
Togo. Recently, his bank contacted me to present the Next of kin to my
deceased clients Estate and deposit.
As i went through his personal documents, i saw your Email address. I am
contacting you now
so that i can present you as the next of kin to Mr. Alex S. Some
information has been kept for security reasons.
I need your response urgently to enable me file in for the documentations
and payment to
you.
Best Regards.
Charles T. Cosmos
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Anti-fraud resources:
