419 scam: JOSEPH CLARK <joclark@sify.com> (Confidential trust business deal.)

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)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million 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)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "drjoclark@voila.fr" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: JOSEPH CLARK <joclark@sify.com>
Reply-To: drjoclark@voila.fr
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:55:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: (Confidential trust business deal.)

From the desk of JOSEPH CLARK
Auditing and accounting manager,
Bank of Africa (B.O.A)
Ouagadougou Burkina FASO.
Dear friend,
(Confidential trust business deal.)
I knew that this message will come to you as a surprise; I am the auditing manager in bank of Africa (BOA) Ouagadougou Burkina Faso, West AFRICA. I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that i am about to impose on you for the mutual benefit of our families.
I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of (usd$15 million dollars) to your account within 10 banking working days. This money has been dormant for years in our bank without any body claiming the fund.
I want the bank to release the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer, who died along with his entire family in 2000 in a plane crash.
See the website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

I don't want the money to go into our bank treasury account as an abandoned fund, so this is the reason why I contacted you so that the bank can release the money to you as the next of kin to the deceased. Please I will like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested.
Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 40% of the above mentioned sum if you agree to handle this business with me.
And 10% will be set aside for any expenses that arise on the process before the fund get into your account such as telephone call bills (etc).
I look forward expecting to hear from you.
1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Sex:
6. OCCUPATION:
7. Marital status:
8. Phone no:
9. Fax:
10. Your photo pictur:
N.B please I beg you with the name of Allah, if you cannot finish this business do not care to reply, I donâ€™t want this money to hang on the way.
You can contact me via my private email address'
Best regards
JOSEPH CLARK
drjoclark@voila.fr

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam