joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "a security company " (this will cost you money - that's what the scam is about)
  • "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "await your urgent response" (they are rushing you so you don't have time to think properly)
  • "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal - arrests of online criminals are rare)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • bello_muhameed@myway.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr bello muhameed" <bello_muhameed@myway.com> (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:05:09 +0530
Subject: Reply




MR BELLO MUHAMEED

Commercial Bank of the Ghana

Accra Branch

Ghana

Reply To My Private Box: bello_muhameed@myway.com




ATTN: SIR/MADAM,



I am MR BELLO MUHAMEED, Branch Manager with Commercial Bank of the Ghana, Accra Branch, Ghana. I have an urgent and very profitable business proposition for you that should be handled with extreme confidentiality.

On January 6 2000 a foreign oil consultant and contractor with the Ghana oil corporation, Mr James Herbert by name, made a numbered time fixed deposit for twelve calendar months valued at $20 million (twenty million United States dollars only) in my branch.

Upon maturity I sent a routine notification in accordance with the bank policy to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers, the Ghana oil corporation that Mr James Herbert died from an automobile accident.

On further investigation, we found out that he died without making a will and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless. I therefore made further investigations and discovered that Mr James Herbert did not declare any next of kin or relations in all his official documents including his bank deposit paperwork in my bank.

This sum of $20 million has been carefully moved out of my bank to a security company in Europe for safekeeping. No one will ever come forward to claim it and according to Ghanaian law, at the expiration of five years the money will revert to the ownership of the Ghanaian government if nobody applies to claim the fund.

This prompted us to contact you. We will like to front you as the next of kin of our late client thereby making you the legal beneficiary of the sum of $20 million that is presently in a security company in Europe.

I contacted you because it is against our code of ethics to own and operate foreign accounts and your assistance would be needed to claim the money in the security company in Europe. We have unanimously agreed that 25% of the entire sum would be for you if you agree to take part in this profitable transaction, 70% for me and two of my colleagues, while the remaining 5% would be used to pay back the expenses that may be incurred during the course of the transaction by both parties after the fund has been claimed as the next of kin.

In the event that you are genuinely interested in the transaction, there are some information would be needed from you to commence the transaction: FULL NAME, CONTACT ADDRESS, PHONE AND FAX NUMBER to commence operation.

The transaction is 100% risk free as all modalities has been perfected to ensure the hitch free success of the transaction.

I await your urgent response.

THANKS FOR CO-OPERATION,

MR BELLO MUHAMEED

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam