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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: Mr John Thomas <amazon@idizm.com>
Reply-To: johnthomaskofi55@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2023 12:32:35 -0700
Subject: REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF FUNDS

MY REGARDS TO YOU,

Hello Beloved, My name is Mr. John Thomas Kofi, Branch Manager of a
Financial Institution. I got in contact with him through a reliable
source called database through the Ghana Chamber of Commerce. I am a
Ghanaian married with 3 children. I am writing to request your help in
the transfer of US$14,500,000.00 Dollars. This fund is the excess of
what my branch in which I am the manager made as profit last year (i.e.
fiscal year 2022). After sending an annual report for the past year on
December 24, 2022 to my head office in Accra-Ghana, I watched with great
interest as they never knew of this excess. I placed this amount of
US$14,500,000.00 Dollars in an Escrow Coded account without beneficiary
(Anonymous) to avoid a trace.

As a bank officer, I cannot be directly connected to this money, so I am
compelled to request your assistance in receiving this money in your
bank account on my behalf. I agree that 40% of this money will go to you
as a foreign partner, in respect of providing an offshore account, and
60% will go to me and I will join you in your country once the fund
reaches your account for an investment plan. I need to emphasize that
there is practically no risk involved in this. It will be a bank-to-bank
transfer OR an online wire transfer. All I need from you is to present
yourself as the original depositor of this fund so that the fund can be
transferred to your account.

If you accept this offer, I will appreciate your timely response. This
is the reason and the only reason I contacted you, I am willing to
participate in a partnership investment with you because of your wealth
of experience. So if you're interested, please. to assist in this
undertaking, kindly contact me for a brief discussion on how to proceed.

Sincerely,
Mr John Thomas Kofi,

Anti-fraud resources: