419 scam: Johnson Martin <martinjohnson191@yahoo.com.hk> ATM OFFICE ZENITH BANK INTERNATIONAL

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dumorrage" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "security keeping fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +22999214998 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Johnson Martin <martinjohnson191@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 19:01:28 +0800 (HKT)
Subject: ATM OFFICE ZENITH BANK INTERNATIONAL

ZENITH BANK INTERNATIONAL
Zenith HeightsPlot 87 Ajose Adeogun Street,
Cotonou Benin .
ATTN:
It is my pleasure to inform you about last meeting by board of directors of our bank, Benin government and ministry of finance.
We have finally concluded to send your $21.7millions in ATM CARD because it will take much time to transfer it through western union money transfer a $5000 on daily basis and also to avoid having problem with International Monetary Fund (IMF) I also want to bring to your notice that, I have paid the re-activation fee and the delivery of your ATM CARD.I paid it because the ATM Card (8119) $21.7m, have less than three weeks to expire and when it expired, the money will go into Government treasury account.
For that reason I decided to help you pay the money so that, the ATM will not expire, because I know that when you get your ATM,you will definitely pay me back my money and even compensate me for helping you. Now i want you to contact DHL DELIVERY SERVICE with your Full Contact informations so that they can deliver your Card to your designated address without any delay.
Like i stated earlier, The delivery charges has been paid but i did not pay their official keeping fees since they refused. They refused and the reason is that they do not know when you are going to contact them and dumorrage might have increased, they told me that their security keeping fees is $25 per day.
Below is their Contact Informations, Contact Person: Hon Mark Ego Olise,DHL DELIVERY SERVICE Email: (dhlbeninheadoffic@qatar.io) Tel: +229 99 214 998. Contact Today to avoid increase of their keeping fees and let me know once you receive your Card.
Yours Dr Martin Johnson,

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam