joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• 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:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

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

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "contact me immediately" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
  • "cotonou" (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.
  • mrphilipjohnson05@yahoo.co.in

Fraud email example:

From: mrphilip johnson <mrphilipjohnson08@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:41:15 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: URGENT INHERITANCE TRANSFER.


THE MANAGER,
BILLS AND EXCHANGE UNIT,
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AFRICA
COTONOU BENIN.
WEST AFRICA.

Dear SIR/MADAM,

I am Mr.Johnson philip the manager, bills and exchange unit of the foreign remittance department of International Bank of Africa Cotonou ,Benin Republic ,I am writing following the fact that our deceased customer shared the same surname with you and based on this fact,our search for our deseased customer's next of kin produced you as someone who could champion this course and help us pull this fund to a reliable foreign bank account for the benefit of us all. In my department, we discovered an abandoned sum of USD5.5 million Dollars (Five million, five hundred thousand US Dollars) in account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in November 1998 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 can not release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guide lines and laws but unfortunately we learnt that his supposed next of kin or relation died along side with him during 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's treasury as unclaimed.

The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after four years, the money will be tranfered into the Bank's treasury as unclaimed fund. The request for a foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and an indegine can not stand as next of kin to this family.

We agreed that 30 % of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10 % will be set aside for expenses incured during the business and 60 % 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 relation or next of kin of the deceased , your private, telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication.The money will be paid in Draft to be cashed in any part of the world. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any form of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer. You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter. Trusting to hear from you immeidately.

Yours faithfully,
Mr.Johnson philip.

NB.Please you can still replied me on my alternative e-mail address for a reason pls(mrphilipjohnson05@yahoo.co.in).



---------------------------------
Jiyo cricket on Yahoo! India cricket
Yahoo! Messenger Mobile Stay in touch with your buddies all the time.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam