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: "Mr. Sampson Opoku." <officedata208@hanmail.net>
Reply-To: samopoku03@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2017 05:28:33 +0000
Subject: Re: For your Perusal.

Dear friend,

Goodmorning. I'm soliciting your utmost confidentiality in this transaction. I am Mr. Sampson Opoku, Head of Operations, Access Bank Ghana Ltd, Accra-Ghana. One of our customers who used to work with Ashanti Goldfield Ltd in Ghana died on the 25th of December 2011, on the single reason of visiting his in-laws. His wife, a Congolese and their only daughter were involved in a car crash on their way home for the holidays and since then, I have made several inquiries to his embassy here to locate any of his extended relatives which was unsuccessful.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you and take this advantage in order to better my life and that of my family. I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$20.7 million left behind by our customer before it get confiscated or declared unserviceable by our bank where this huge amount was deposited.

Our bank has issued a notice to me to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated in the next six months. For the fact that I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives since then, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the percentage that is coming to me after the money has been credited in your chosen account.

I can assist in procuring the necessary information and legal documents that may be needed to actualize this proposal since I will contract the services of our bank accredited lawyer who will legally represent you as the next of kin. All I require from you is your honest co-operation to enable us conclude this transaction successfully. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

If this proposal is acceptable by you, kindly get back to me. I want you to also furnish me with your private telephone/fax or preferably your mobile numbers and I will have to apply for the release and subsequent transfer of the fund in your favour.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

Regards,

Mr. Sampson Opoku.

Anti-fraud resources: