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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:

Fraud email example:

From: Vincent Amah <vincentamah@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 09:19:25 +0100
Subject: THANKS

Dear Friend,

I wish to contact you on a good business which I want you to assist me,
receive this fund into your bank account in your country.I am the manager
of Barclays Bank of Ghana Ltd in (Tema branch) a family man and a man of
peace. I discovered this money Five million, Five hundred and Forty
thousand united state dollars (USD$5,540.000.00) On the course of last year
ending 2013 business financial report as the excess profit made in my
branch office.

I had already submitted an approved end of the year financial report to my
head office here in capital city Accra and they will never know of this
excess and I have placed this amount on an Escrow Call Account without a
beneficiary. As an officer of this bank I cannot be directly connected to
this money and all I need from you is to stand claim as the original
depositor of these funds who made the deposit in my branch. Upon your
response, I will configure your names/information on our database as
holder of the Escrow Call Account.

I will then guide you on how to apply to my head office for the Account
Closure/ bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to your designated bank
account.I will give you further details upon your acceptance of this
proposal.I also intend that you shall retain 35% of the total funds as your
commission. Thanks for your assistance,

Sincerely Yours,
Mr. James V.Kojo.

Anti-fraud resources: