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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 Henry John" <mrhenryjohn2003@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Oct 2005 15:29:59 +0000
Subject: REQUEST FOR URGENT RELATIONSHIP

FROM MR HENRY JOHN
OANDO BENIN REPUBLIC
OIBP 1093 Recette Princpale Contonou,
www.oandoplc.com

REQUEST FOR URGENT RELATIONSHIP:
Attention:

I am Mr. Henry John I am a member of the Tenders
Board, a Committee incharge of contract Award and
Payment Approvals[CAPA].I got your contact on the net
during my quest for a reliable and reputable person to
handle a very confidential transaction ,which involves
the transfer of a huge sum of money to a foreign
account.

There were series of contracts executed by a
consortium of Multinationals in our oil industry in
favour of the [DPR] among which were :The expansion of
pipeline network within BENIN REPUBLIC for Crude oil
and downstream products distribution and subsequent
evacuation ,USD$2billion.

[2] Contract for Turn Around Maintenance [TAM] at the
various Plants in the country.

[3]The construction of Storage Tanks for Petroleum
Products [Depots] USD$94,million.

The original value of this contracts were deliberately
over invoiced to the tune of Thirty six milliom, Five
hundred and Sixty one thousand United States
Dollars[USD$36,561,000.00]The companies that actually
executed the aforementioned contract have been fully
paid and the project officially commissioned .
Consequently,my colleagues and I are willing to
transfer the total amount to your account for
subsequent disbursement, since we as civil servants
are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau [Civil
Service Laws] from opening and /or operating foreign
accounts in our names.

We have agreed amongst ourselves to offer you 20% of
the transferred sum, while 10% shall be set aside for
any incidental expenses during the course of this
transaction. You will then be required to revert the
balance 70% to us, or as may be advised in due course.

You must however NOTE that this transaction is subject
to secrecy, confidence, trust ,seriousness, and
co-operation. Connections have been worked out at the
highest levels of the Ministry of Finance, African
Development Bank, the Bankers Bank, and the
Presidential Task Force on contract payment for the
immediate remittance of the funds within 10-14 working
days to an account that you may provide.
The whole approvals shall be legally processed with
your name or any company you may nominate as the
bonafide beneficiary of the funds if you co-operate
with us. Get back to me via email so we discuss more.

Thanks and God Bless
Mr. Henry John

       

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