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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: "SEUN SOYINKA" <seunsoy@standardchbankngrplc.com>
Reply-To: sesoyinka@123mail.cl
Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2005 18:24:24 +0000
Subject: DEAR WEI,....FROM SOYINKA



Dear Wei,

I am Mr. Seun Soyinka, the Head of Consumer Banking of Standard Chartered
Bank Plc, Victoria Island, Lagos I have urgent and very confidential
business proposition for you. On Oct. 30, 2000,MR. A J.WEI, who might be a
national of your country was a consultant/ Contractor with the National Oil
Nigeria LTD, made a numbered time(Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months,
valued at US$15,611,000.00 (Fifteen Million six hundred and eleven thousand
US Dollars only) in my branch.

Upon maturity, we sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered
from his contract employers, the National Oil LTD that he died from an
automobile crash. All attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I
therefore made further investigation and discovered that he did not declare
any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank
Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US$15,611,000.00 is still sitting
in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at
the end of each year.
No one has ever come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Law, at the
expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the
Nigerian Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you to act as the next of kin
to him so that the fruits of this old man's labour will not get into the
hands of government treasury. To advance the course of this proposal, I will
like you to provide immediately your full names and address so that the
attorney will use them to prepare the necessary documents and affidavits
that will put you in place as the next of kin. We shall employ the service
of an Attorney for drafting and notarization of the "WILL" and to obtain the
necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favor for
the transfer.

A Bank Account in any part of the world, which you will provide, will then
facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin.
The money will be paid into your Account for us to share in the ratio that
will be agreed upon by two of us. All as all the paperwork for this
transaction will be done by the Attorney and my position as the Branch
Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction. If you are
interested in this proposal, I shall then provide you with more details and
relevant information that will help you understand the transaction.
Please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this
transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require
your assistance to invest my share in your country.

Waiting for your urgent reply.
Thank you.
Mr. Seun Soyinka


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