419 scam: Frank Kone <frank_kone@aol.com> Dearest

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

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:
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a orphan scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Frank Kone <frank_kone@aol.com>
Reply-To: Frank Kone <frank_kone@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:41:57 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dearest

Dearest,

I am Frank Kone of Ivory Coast, an orphan. I needed assistance.

My late father was a cocoa merchant that used to operate from the city of Abidjan to overseas during his days. He died during one of his business trip in France. My mother also died when i was little i did not even know her much.

Before the death of my father, he told me that he deposited the sum of US$6,000,000 (Six Million US Dollars) with a bank here.

I want you to assist me retrieve the money and transfer to your country or any other country you know that is safer for investment purpose.

I am 18 years old, a student and really don't know what to do. I have suffered a lot of setbacks here as a result of political crisis.

I am willing to offer you 20% for assisting me, 5% for any expense incurred during transaction.

Thank you,

Frank Kone

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam