419 scam: Robert Lubanga <robertlubanga@yahoo.com> I NEED YOUR HELP

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "trunk box" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: Robert Lubanga <robertlubanga@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: "robertlubanga@ymail.com" <robertlubanga@ymail.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:29:53 +0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR HELP

Dear Friend,

First and foremost i must seek your strict confidence, Let me introduce
myself to you, my name is Robert Lubanga from Democratic Republic of
Congo. My Father name is Thomas Lubanga from Congo.

Am a refugee in Ghana presently in refugee camp i cannot go to Congo
because of the war that is still going on, i succeeded to escaping to
Ghana with part of my father money worth the sum of $1.5 million which i
want to invest in western world.

The money is presently in a hotel here in Ghana, i was formally staying at
the hotel when i first got to Ghana, i decided to keep the trunk box with
the hotel manager before i went to the refugee camp for safe keeping,
because i was afraid, but he dont know the content in it, it has been
there for sometime.

The deal is this, I want you to stand as my dad and i will introduce the
hotel manager to you and you make arrangement to claim it as my dad and i
start sending you the money via western union and you make arrangement for
me to come over to your country and we will both invest the money together
for our mutual benefit.

Please dont disappoint me so that i can be out of the refugee camp and
start living a good life.

I await your response.

God bless you and your family.

yours faithfully
Robert Lubanga

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam