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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: Toby Battle <Mr_t_battle@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:36:55 +0100
Subject: Good Day,

Good Day,
 
I am Mr. Tony Battle, staff of Kleinwort Benson. 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 am contacting 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 the year 2002, 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 TEN Million pounds, 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 then,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. In mid 2003, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Helsinki- Finland. He directed that I liquidate the funds and deposit it with a security firm. I informed him that my Bank would have to make special arrangements to have this

done and in order not to circumvent due process. Cash movement across boarders has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11. I contacted my affiliate and made the funds available to the security firm.


I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited with the security firm. The Security Firm 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 the security firm. 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 of November 2002.In June last year, and we got a call from the security firm informing us about the inactivity of that particular portfolio. I made futile efforts to locate the deceased. I immediately passed the

task of locating him to the internal investigations department of Kleinwort Benson. 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 cannel, in outhern part of France. We were soon enough to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed.

In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This investigation has for the past months been unfruitful; we’ve 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. According to practice, The Security Firm will by

the end of this financial year broadcast a request for statements of claim to Kleinwort Benson, failing to receive viable claims they will most probably revert the deposit back to Kleinwort Benson. This will result in the money entering the Kleinwort Benson accounting system and the

portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the private banking division. This will not happen if I have my way. What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal

politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those that occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There is TEN

Million pounds deposited in a security firm, I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as my Bank is concerned.


My proposal: I now seek your permission to present you as a next of kin to the deceased, as all documentations will be carefully worked to make you the beneficiary to the funds 10,000 000 00 (TEN Million pounds); I am prepared to place you in a position to instruct The security Firm to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you. That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 60/40.I would have gone ahead to ask that the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. We can fine-tune this based on our interactions am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you.
 
Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones' way once in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total control of my destiny. These chances won’t pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking.
 
I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank. 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 myself. My official lines are not secured 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 eligiously.Please, again, note that 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 learned from my private banking clients. Do not betray my confidence.

Please contact me on my private E-mail address:

mr_t_battle@yahoo.com.hk
I await your response.
Mr. Tony Battle

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