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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "your urgent reply" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • timmijohnson@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "tokunbo smith" <tokunbo_smith1980@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 23:27:37 +0000
Subject: GOOD DAY TO YOU

From The Desk of: tokunbo smith.
Inter Continental Bank of Nigeria,
Lagos, Nigeria.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am so sorry to bulge on you like this without knowing you prior to
this day but I employ you to please read this mail because it has immense
financial benefits for the both of us.

I am Mr. tokunbo smith , Bank Manager of Inter Continental Bank of
Nigeria, Lagos Branch. I got your contact on my private search on the
Internet and I listed your name amongst four other names and prayed
over them and decided to contact you directly.

I have a very urgent and confidential business proposition for you and
for our overall mutual interest. On December 6 1999,an American oil
consultant/contractor with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
Mr. Henry Gardner made a numbered time (fixed )deposit for twelve
calendar months, valued at USD$25,000,000.00(twenty five-million dollars) in
my
branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarded
address but got no reply. After a month we sent a reminder and finally
we discovered from his contract employers NNPC that Mr. thomas died in an
automobile accident.

On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a WILL and
all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I therefore made
further investigation and discovered that Mr. Henry did not declare any next
of
kin in all his official documents, including his bank deposit paperwork.

This sum USD$25,000,000.00 is still floating in the bank and the
interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each
year. No
one will come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Laws, at the
expiration of 7 (seven) years, the money will revert to the ownership of the
Nigeria government if nobody applies to claim the funds. Consequently, my pr
oposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as a next of kin
of
Mr.Henry Gardner. This is simple.

1)I will like you to provide me immediately with your full names &
address so that an attorney will prepare the necessary documents and
affidavits, which will put you as next of kin.

2)We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting &
notarization of the WILL and obtain the necessary documents and letter of
probate/administration in your favor for the transfer.

3)A bank account in any part of the world, which you will provide to
facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary. The
money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 60% for
me and 40% for you, which we will both sign and agree to, by a Memorandum
of Understanding (M.O.U) before we proceed with the transfer of the money
to you.

There is no risk at all as the attorney will do the paperwork for
this transaction and with my position as the branch manager guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction. If you are interested, please
reply immediately via this private email------timmijohnson@yahoo.com. Upon
your
response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand.

PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY, and be rest assured that this
would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require your
assistance to invest my share in your country. Awaiting your urgent reply
via this
email below, please save me the anxiety of endless waiting.Remember to reply
to :timmijohnson@yahoo.com
God bless you as you do.

Mr. TOKUNBO SMITH
Inter Continental Bank of Nigeria.Lagos, Nigeria.



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Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam