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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "million british pounds" (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)
  • "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Gary Robinson" <consultant@123.com.sv>
Reply-To: <garyrobinson2008@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 07:41:01 -0500
Subject: From Mr. Gary Robinson



From Mr. Gary Robinson
24 Cockspur Street, London,
SW1Y 5BL.United Kingdom.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Best of the season!

Please accept my sincere apologizes if my email does not meet your business
or
personal ethics. I wish to use this medium to get in touch with you first
because it's the fastest means.

Let me start by introducing myself. My names are Mr. Gary Robinson. I am a
consulting auditor attached with the private Banking Services of a
well-known
bank here in the United Kingdom.

I am contacting you based on the facts that on one of our periodic auditing
I
discovered a dormant account with holding balance of £20 Million (Twenty
Million British Pounds Sterling), which has not been operated for the past
six
years. On my further investigations and confirmation, the owner of
this account
is a foreigner. An American Citizen, Late Mr. John Shujmeda who was the
President of agricultural equipment giant AGCO Corp, who perished on
the 4th of
January 2002 in a plane crash in Birmingham.

Since then nobody has shown up to claim this money because his family
members
are not aware of the existence of neither the account nor the funds. And
recently, the British Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown said that some of the
money held in dormant accounts would be used to fund youth and community
projects to tackle the Global Economic Crises. View:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stm

However, I am contacting you based on trust to present you to the Bank as
the
Next of Kin and Inheritor to the funds of Late Mr. John Shujmeda. I thus
propose to do business with you, standing in as the next of kin of these
funds
from the deceased and after due legal processes have been followed the fund
will be released to your account without delay and we will use it for
investment and to assist the less privileged in the society because if we
left
the fund with the government it will be fortified for nothing and will be
used
to suppress the poor masses in the society.

I need your assistant, believing that you will not betray me when the Fund
is
paid to you as the next of Kin and beneficiary. I have secretly discussed
this
matter with a top senior official of the Department of finance here
and we have
agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with us although due to
his
position he did not want to take active part but if you will be following
the
instructions I will be getting from him, everything will be successfully
because we will be working hand in hand with him.

This transaction is totally free of risk and troubles as the fund is
legitimate
and does not originate from drug, money laundry, terrorism or any
other illegal
act. This business will be completed within 7 Banking days from the
date of the
receipt of your response and account information where you will like the
fund
to be transferred. Even an empty account is ok for this transaction.

They are as follows:

1) Your Full Name:
2) Country Name:
3) Your Private Phone/Fax Numbers:
4) Your Bank Name:
5) Bank Address:
6) Your Account Number:
7) IBAN Number:
8) Swift Code:
9) Account Holder?s Name:

Finally, I am prepared to share the money with you and we share the proceeds
60% for me and 40% for you. We can fine-tune this based on our
interactions and
with my position/affiliate in the bank we can get things done in a smooth
way.

If you are interested, send your response via my email address.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Best Regards,

Mr. Gary Robinson.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam