419 scam: "Mr. Richard Griffith"<rich.griff@att.net> Important information

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "it will be a bank to bank transfer" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Richard Griffith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rich.griff@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 17:33:15 -0000
Subject: Important information

FROM THE DESK OF MR. RICHARD A. GRIFFITH
MANAGER ECO BANK [THE PAN AFRICAN BANK]
TETEQUASHIE BRANCH GHANA.

Dear friend,

My name is Mr. Richard Griffith. I am the branch manager of Eco Bank (The Pan African Bank) Tetequashie Branch Ghana. I am forty three years of age and married with a lovely kid. I got your information during my search through the Internet, I went through your profile and i found out that you are worthy and capable of handling this transaction that i have packaged for the benefit of both of us. I don't know how you will feel about this mail because of the rapid growth of scam in the world today but I am telling you that this is real and that you won't regret effecting this transaction with me. I only hope we can assist each other. But If you don't want this business proposal, kindly forget it and I will not contact you again.

I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us. As a branch manager, it is my duty to send in a financial report to my head office in the capital city of Ghana (Accra) at the end of each year. On the course of last year's end of the year report, I discovered that my branch made Three Million Five Hundred Thousand dollar which my head office is not aware of and will never be aware of. I have since placed this fund on what we call SUSPENSE ACCOUNT without any beneficiary.

As the manager of this branch, I can not be directly connected to this fund and that is why i had to contact you so that you can assist me to receive this money into your bank account for us to share and you will have thirty percent of the total fund. NOTE: There is practically no risk involved. It will be a bank to bank transfer. All I need is just for you to stand as the original depositor of this fund who made the deposit with our branch so that my Head office can order the transfer of the fund into your designated bank account.

If you agree to work with me, I will appreciate it very much. Then we will go ahead and build trust between each other on this matter because without trust we cannot work together. As soon as I receive your response, i will send you the details of this transaction and also the steps you will follow for us to achieve it successfully.

With regards,
Mr. Richard Griffith

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam