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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: Anthony Rock <anthony_rock@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: anthony_rock111@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 04:22:40 +0000
Subject: Can you help


Good day,
I am Anthony Rock staff of International Private Banking at HSBC Bank.I am contacting you concerning a deceased customer and an investment he placed under our banks management three years ago.I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of
this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail.I contacted you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you.In 2001, the subject matter;came to our bank to engage in business
discussions with our private banking division.He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of eight million three hundred and fifty thousand united states dollars,which he wished to have us turn over (invest)on his behalf.I was the officer assigned to his case,I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations officer of the
private banking sector, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed. I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in my advise to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000 traditional stocks and bond managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments. Based on my advice, We spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of operation, the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over ten million United States Dollars,
this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments.I followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited at the london based security consultancy firm,Corporate Securities Co.is a specialist private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or undertake transactions that need immediate access to cash. This small and highly private organization is familiar especially to the highly placed and well-connected organizations. In line with instructions, the money was deposited with Corporate
Securities Co. The deceased told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last communication we had,this transpired around 25th June 2003.In June last year, we got a call from Corporate Securities Co informing us that the activity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one
who knew about the deposit at Corporate Securities Co, and I could not understand why the deceased had not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate the deceased. I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations
department of HSBC. Four days later,information started to trickle in, apparently our client was dead.A person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart attack in Cannes, South of France.In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our own investigations in good faith to determine who should
have right to claim the estate. This investigation has for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used our private investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem.It is this investigation that resulted in my being furnished with your details as a possible relative of the deceased. My official capacity dictates that I am
the only party to supervise the investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation.What this means,you being the last batch of names we have considered, is that our dear late fellow died with no known or identifiable family member. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit and
the late beneficiary of the deposit.I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have
here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank. I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Lets share the blessing.If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this same email account. If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I wish to inform you that should you contact me via official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me through my official email account.Contact me only through the numbers I will provide for you and also through this email address. I do not want any direct link between you and me. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy.Please observe this instruction religiously. Please,again, note I am a family man, I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold. This is the one truth I have learnt from my private banking clients. Do not betray my confidence.If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting soon.
I await your response.
Anthony Rock
N/B
Kindly send your response to my direct
Email address: Anthony_rock111@yahoo.co.uk

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