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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:
- 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:
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Jeffrey Mike Franks <michele.golino@alice.it>
Reply-To: jeffreyfranks10@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2017 12:38:14 +0100 (CET)
Subject: From Jeffrey Mike Franks
Hello Dear,
My name is Mr. Jeffrey Mike Franks.
I am an account officer in one of the prime banks here in Benin.
I am revealing to you that one Chief Jean Jaque N’DRIA, a business man from
Cote d’Ivoire was dealing in Cocoa and Gold. He was always visiting Cotonou in
Republic of Benin where he deposited some money in our bank here. Because of
the political instability in Cote d’Ivoire at the time he decided that since he
was an account holder in our bank in Cote d’Ivoire, he traveled to Benin to
deposit some money in our bank here in Benin. He told our bank that the money
was for investment abroad with the help of his foreign partner who he said is
his Next of Kin. Chief Jean Jaque N’DRIA died with his only son in a motor
accident along the Yamoussoukro-Divo road on their way back from inspecting a
cocoa plantation. The Name and Identity of his partner was not mentioned in the
Deposit Agreement. I want you to work with me and claim the money as his
foreign partner/Next of Kin. because the bank has waited for 9 years (19 March
2008 to 2017) for his foreign partner to come and claim the money for
investment and no one has come up, and because in reality no one knows about
the deposit I decided to contact you. No one in our bank knows that I am the
person who revealed this to you and therefore you have to keep it between me
and you. As an insider in the bank, I am aware that according to the law of
this country if the money is not claimed after 10 years it will be reverted to
the treasury of the Republic of Benin. This is the more reason why I have
contacted you. On your response to this email I will give you more details
about the name of our bank and amount deposited plus all other details of the
deposit and how we will claim the money.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey Mike Franks.
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