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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "i got your address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Michael osei" <michaelosei166@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 22:28:24 +0800 (HKT)
Subject: Attention Please
Attention Please
Pardon me for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before
making you this offer and it is utterly confidential and genuine by virtue
of its nature.
I am Mr. Michael Osei, the branch manager of the International Commercial
Bank, Kaneshie First Light Branch Accra Ghana. I got your address from the
Internet through the consultancy directory during my search for a reliable
and honest person to transact this business with.
I write to solicit your assistance in a funds transfer deal involving
US$5,300.000.00.
This fund has been stashed out of the excess profit made last year by my
branch office of the International Commercial Bank, Kaneshie First Light
Branch Accra Ghana which I am manage.
I have already submitted an approved end-of-the-year report for the year
2011 to my head office here in in Accra-Ghana and they will never know of
this excess.
I have since then, placed this amount on a Non-Investment Account without
a beneficiary , if you comply to this offer i will want you to write to my
head office as the beneficiary to the funds that is presently in
Non-residential account with the deposit number 0014386CTBL.
As you can see am still very much in service with my Bank and would not
want to participate directly in this deal i hope you understand me better
moreover my retirement is so close and i want to maintain a standard so i
can relocate to your country after this transaction .
I will then guide you on how to apply to my head office for the Account
Closure/ bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to your designated bank
account. If you concur with this proposal
I intend for you to retain 35% of the funds while 65% shall be for me.
Your earliest response would be appreciated on the regards.
Looking forward to hear from you soon.
Mr. Michael Osei
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