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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: "Mr.George Lee" <info@bank.com>
Reply-To: georgeleetransfer@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:04:09 -0200
Subject: "Please acknowledge the receipt of this mail"

I am Mr. George Lee,staff of the London Scottish Bank UK. I am writing
following an opportunity in my office that will be of immense benefit to
both of us.On January 11th 2000,a German estate tycoon, late Mr. Andreas
Schranner, deposited $12.5m (Twelve Million Five Hundred Thousand United
States Dollars.) under our portfolio management department for a period of
Three (3) years, and the deposit matured on the 18th of February 2003 with
over 100% growth which amounted to a total of $25.520m (Twenty Five
Million, Five Hundred United States Dollars).

Upon maturity, a routine notification was sent to his forwarding address
all to no avail. Several attempts were made to contact him but without
responses. After a month, another reminder was sent to him from my desk and
evidently I discovered from his contract employers that Mr. Andreas
Schranner died in the plane crash of Air France Concorde flight 4590 which
crashed on July 25th 2000. On further indebt investigation, I discovered
that he died with his wife and entire family, as all efforts to trace
members of his neither family nor relatives proved futile. You shall read
more about the crash on visiting this site.(Http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/
europe/859479.stm)

Mr. Andreas Schranner, has long passed away and since his death none of
his next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims for this money
as the heir. He died without identifying with anybody about these funds,
which has since matured and the roll-over on the funds also expired.

This sum of $25,520,000 (Twenty Five Million, Five Hundred United States
Dollars) is still in my possession in my Bank lifeless and unnoticed
because there will never be a claim on the funds. All material, immaterial
documents and certificates relating to the funds is also in my possession.
Against this backdrop, I am proposing to you to stand in as the next of kin
to Late Mr. Andreas Schranner. The banking law and guidelines here
stipulates that at the expiration of eight (12) years such funds will be
transferred into Goverment treasury as unclaimed funds.

I want to let you know that 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, so you should not have any fear
over the movement of the fund.

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 $25.520m (Twenty Five Million, Five Hundred United
States Dollars).; 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.I assure you
that I could have the deposit released to you within a few days.

I will simply inform London scottish Bank of the final closing of the file
relating to the deceased. I will then officially communicate with The
Security Firm and instruct them to release the deposit to you. With these two
things: all is done. The alternative would be for us to have The Security
Firm direct the funds to another bank with you as account holder. This way
there will be no need for you to think of receiving the money from The
Security Company. 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. You may not know this but people like myself
who have made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private
banking sector.I am not a criminal and what I do

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. I am the only
one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a luck
that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Let’s
share the
blessing. If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this
email account. If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process
towards a conclusion.

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 reply to my alternative E-mail: georgeleetransfer@yahoo.com


Regards,
George Lee.
The Staff of London Scottish Bank UK


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