joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Joel Raphela" <joerph12@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jlraph@yahoo.it
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:15:01 +0200
Subject: Your Consideration Needed

From: Joel Raphela
Phone: +27-83-738-1814
Email: jlraph@yahoo.it

Request for Confidential Business Relationship
----------------------------------------------------
First, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction. I am a high
placed official working with Department of Finance (& Economic Affairs), in
Cape Town South Africa. I and two other colleagues are currently in need of
a silent foreign partner whose identity we can use to transfer the sum of
Thirty Six Million U.S. dollars. This fund accrued legitimately to us as
commission from foreign contracts, through our private connections.

The fund is presently waiting to be remitted from ABSA bank here in South
Africa to any overseas beneficiary confirmed by us as associate/receiver. By
virtue of our positions as civil servants in my country, we cannot acquire
this money in our names. Because as high placed civil servants, we are not
allowed by the civil service code of conduct to own or operate bank accounts
outside of our shores. On the other hand, it is not safe for us to keep the
money here due to unstable political environment.

I have been mandated as a matter of trust by my colleagues, to look for an
overseas silent partner who could work with us to facilitate transfer of
this fund for our mutual benefit, hence the reason for this email.

What I am requesting from you is: (1) to be our silent partner and receive
the funds as the sole benefactor to the contract amount which we shall
secure all legal documentation to authenticate our claim. (2) Provide a
private telephone and fax number for easy communication under your control
..(3)Receive the funds as the beneficiary, take out your commission and keep
the rest of the money until I arrive there to meet you after the transfer is
completed.

My proposal is that after you receive the funds, it would be shared as
follows: (1) 15% to you as commission for your co-operation and assistance
in facilitating the transfer, while the remaining 85% belongs to me and two
colleagues. You will be free to take out your commission immediately after
the money hits your country. Since our objective is to invest the money in a
foreign country, it would be appreciated if you could also help us with
advices and direction on investing into profitable/lucrative ventures in
your country for an additional 3%.

However, this is optional, and if it is not convenient for you to further
assist us with investing the money, we can end our cooperation after you
make available to us our part of the money.

The transaction, although discrete, is legitimate and the money will be
transferred successful with all necessary back-up official documents showing
legitimate source/origin of fund.

The transfer will be affected within a period not longer than two weeks as
soon as we reach an agreement and you furnish me with a suitable response
indicating your interest for processing the transfer. I plead with you on
one issue, whether you are interested or not, kindly do not expose this
information to any one else.

I confirm that the transaction is legitimate and without any risks either to
us or yourself. Please, give me your response immediately by return mail.

Yours Faithfully,

Joel Raphela.

_________________________________________________________________
Discover the magic of RSS feeds at MSN South Africa! http://za.msn.com/


Anti-fraud resources: