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: "Odd Vorhaug" <odd@teamconsult.no>
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:59:41 +0200
Subject: VS: [SPAM]: CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION



-----Opprinnelig melding-----
Fra: Joel Avis [mailto:mewwww97@rediffmail.com]
Sendt: 14. august 2010 13:38
Til: undisclosed recipients:
Emne: [SPAM]: CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION

(Mr Joel Avis)
Chief Auditor FNB.
Phone: +27-73-561-3044
joelavis2010@yahoo.com

I am Mr .Joel Avis, the Chief Auditor of the First National Bank(FNB)
Gauteng Branch. I got your contact addreass from the Trade and Exhibition
Centre here in Johannesburg and you are the only person that I have
contacted in this business with believe that you will not let me down and we
will work together to develop trust and confidence in this business.

I crave your indulgence as I contact you in such a surprising manner and I
want you to bear in mind that this is not a hoax but I respectfully insist
you read this mail carefully as I am optimistic it will open door for
unimaginable financial reward for both of us.

After going through some old file in the records department, I discover that
there is an account opened in 1997 belonging to the late Mr. Morris Thompson
a foreigner and a miner at Kruger Gold Company a geologist by profession and
since 2000 nobody has operated the account following Mr. Morris Thompson
death in 2000. Mr. Morris Thompson lost his life in the plane crash of
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 flying to San Francisco and Seattle from Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico, which crashed into the Pacific Ocean not far from Los
Angeles on January 31st 2000, including his wife and his only daughter
(Thelma Thompson, and daughter Sheryl Thompson). You shall read more about
the crash on visiting this site:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/

After my further investigation I also discovered that Late Mr. Morris
Thompson's next of kin was his daughter who died with him. The account has
no other beneficiary and my investigation proves to me as well that his
company does not know anything about this account and the account. Since
then, no other person knows about this account, and the amount involved is
US$33 Million (THIRTY THREE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS). I would like to
transfer this amount into your overseas account as a foreigner because Mr.
Morris Thompson was a foreigner.Immediately the transfer is completed i will
resign my Position here in the Bank and joining you in person for
disbursement and investment opportunity which you will be an asset to it.

I am only contacting you because of your foreign status as this money cannot
be approved to a local bank here, but can be approved to any foreign account
because the money is in a foreign currency (US dollars) and former owner of
the account, Mr. Morris Thompson was a foreigner. Because of the need to
involve a foreign account, I need your full co-operation to make this work
fine because the management is ready to approve the payment to whoever has
the correct information to this account, of which I will give you later, if
you are able to handle such amount in strict confidence and trust according
to my instruction and advice for our mutual benefits because this
opportunity will never come again in our lives. I need a trustworthy person
in this business because I don't want to make a mistake and I need your
strong assurance, trust and reliability.

With my position now in the office and the influence of the top bank
director of the First National Bank (FNB), I will make sure that this money
is transferred into any reliable account, which you can provide with the
assurance that this money will be intact pending my physical arrival in your
country for my sharing. Your physical presence is also welcomed in South
Africa in which the transfer will be done in your presence. I will destroy
all the documents of the transaction immediately you receive this money,
leaving no trace in any place.

I have the tendency to invest my own share of the money in your country in
expectation to a sound management and a good capital returns according to
your advice. Rest assured you stand no risk of any kind as the fund belong
to us now, therefore after the eventual stage of the transfer of this fund,
I am offering you 25% of the total fund, 70% will be for my investment while
5% will be set aside for expenses that might be incurred during the cause of
this transaction.

I strongly believe that associating with you to embark on this fund transfer
and other business ventures will derive a huge success thereafter. I will
use my position to effect approvals for onward transfer of this money to
your account with appropriate clearance form from the ministries and foreign
exchange department. I am counting on your sense of confidentiality, as it
is my desire that you keep this to yourself and endeavor to furnish me with
your private telephone (mobile preferably), fax numbers as soon as you get
this mail for oral clarification.

Looking forward to your urgent respond via my private email address below
but if you cannot assist me, no need to respond to this email:
joelavis2010@yahoo.com

Yours truly,

(Mr Joel Avis)
Chief Auditor FNB.

Anti-fraud resources: