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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

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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.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "transaction is risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • ismillasanko@hotmail.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Ismilla sanko" <ismillasanko@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:28:34 +0000
Subject: URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.

FROM THE DESK OF Mr.ISMILLA SANKO,
ACCOUNTS & AUDIT DEPARTMENT,
BANK OF AFRICA,
OUAGADOUGOU-BURKINA FASO,
E-MAIL: ismillasanko@hotmail.com
TEL:(00226)76529004.

Dear partner,

I am Mr.ISMILLA SANKO,the head of Accounts and Audit Department with BANK OF
AFRICA, OUAGADOUGOU-BURKINA FASO .
It is my utmost pleasure to send to you this confidential message.I got your
E-mail contact address in my internet search for a foreign business partner
and i was impressed with your profile ,hence my interest in doing this
urgent and confidential business with you.
During our end of year auditing 2004,we discovered an abandoned sum of $5.5m
(Five million five hundred thousand united states dollars,in an account that
belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family
in December 2000 in a plane crash.
Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of
kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless
somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as
indicated in our banking guidelines but unfortunately we learnt that all his
supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash
leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery
that I and other officials in my department now decided to make this
business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or
relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody
is coming for it and we don't want this money to go into the Bank treasury
as unclaimed Bill.
The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained
unclaimed after five years, the money will be transferred into the Bank
treasury as unclaimed fund.
The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by
the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a BURKINABE cannot stand as
next of kin to a foreigner.
We agree that 15 % of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in
respect to the provision of a foreign account, 5 % will be set aside for
expenses incurred during the course of transfer and 80 % would be for me and
my colleagues.
There after I and my colleagues will visit your country for disbursement
according to the percentages indicated.
Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged,
you must apply first to the bank as a relation and next of kin to the
deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private
telephone and fax numbers for easy and effective communication and location
where in the money will be remitted .
Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of
the application, which you will fill and send to our bank. I will not fail
to bring to your notice that this transaction is risk free and that you
should not entertain any fear as i am here and all required arrangements
have been made for the transfer.
I expect that you contact me as soon as you receive this letter.
Hoping to hearing from you immediately.

Yours faithfully,
Mr.ISMILLA SANKO.
TEL:(00226)76529004.

_________________________________________________________________
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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam