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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: Stanbic IBTC BanK <smith@ibtc.com>
Reply-To: TTT@dores.com
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:39:50 -0200 (BRST)
Subject: ASSURED DISCRETIONS


Mr. Tony Smith
Stanbic IBTC Bank
Sokoto,Northern Nigeria.
12/11/2009

Good day,
I am Mr Tony Smith Offshore Investment Banking officer of Standard Bank Group
Now Stanbic IBTC Bank. Having consulted and based on the information gathered
from the Nigerian Chambers of Commerce And Industry, I have the privilege to
request your assistance in the transfer of USD$25,000,000.00(twenty five
million united states dollars) into your account.

On December 6 2000, an American oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) Mr. Henry Gardner made a
numbered
time (fixed) deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at
USD$25,000,000.00(Twenty Five million United Dollars) in my branch. Upon
Maturity, we sent a routine notification to his forwarded address but
got no reply. After a month, I personally sent a reminder still no response
from him but I later discovered from his contract employers NNPC that
Mr. Henry 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 10(ten) years, the money will revert to the ownership
of the Nigerian government if nobody applies to claim the funds.
Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to
stand in as a next of kin to Late Mr. Henry Gardner.

This is simple
1) I will like you to provide me immediately with your full names,
address and your phone number 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.

The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of
50% for me and 50% 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 in this transaction, 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.Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more
details and relevant documents that will help you understand.

PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY, I advice that utmost
confidentiality in all matters I have discussed with you be observed,
because it is only on this premise of reliability and implicit trust in
our capabilities, will the exact dividends of this proposal be achieved.

Privileged information and official Instruments at my disposal will
enable this proposal in the right perspective for a 100% successful execution
rate, it is therefore paramount for me to beassured of your discretion in
handling details of this proposal.

I also need an assurance that even though, the possibility exists of you
declining to this proposal, my identity can be protected with your
assured discretion. Please save me the anxiety of endless waiting by sending
your information to my private email address: (tsmith@sify.com)
God bless you as you do.

Mr. Tony Smith
Stanbic IBTC Bank
8, Maiduguri Road,
Sokoto P.M.B.2375



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