419 scam: "John Mensa"<johnmensa@bankengland.com> ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM

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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:

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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "outstanding contractors" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your payment is being processed" (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)
- "foreign payment unit" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "John Mensa" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gtbbk2@one.co.il>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:12:47 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM

BANK OF ENGLAND/UNITED NATIONS 2011 COMPENSATION
>From the Desk Of,
John Mensa
London, United Kingdom.

ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM

IMMEDIATE TRANSFER OF YOUR CONTRACT PAYMENT

This is to bring to your notice that I am delegated from the United Nations to BANK OF ENGLAND to pay 100 scammed victims the sum of THREE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS (£3.5million GBP), you have been listed and approved for this payments, Inaccordance with the New Law of payment policy, as amended to expedite the immediate settlement of all outstanding debt by the UNITED NATIONS.

Therefore i am obliged to inform you that from the records of outstanding contracts due for payment, your name and company was discovered as next on the list of The outstanding contractors who have not received their payments.

I also wish to inform you that your payment is being processed and will be released to you as soon as you respond to this letter by reconfirming immedaitely your payment status. Also note that from my record in my file your outstanding contract payment has been approved by the BANK OF ENGLAND. So do please re-confirm to me the below informations.

(1) Your full name.
(2) Phone, fax and mobile #.
(3) Current Address
(4) Age and Occupation
(5) A copy of your international passport or drivers lincence.

According to the number of applicants at hand, 80 beneficiaries has been paid ,half of the victims are from the United States, we still have more 20 left to be paid the.you are hereby warned not to communicate or duplicate this message to anyone for any reason what so ever,

As soon as this informations are received, your payment will be made to you via Foreign Payment Unit of approve release system which is wire and cable transmission immedaitely into your receving account in accordance with the release mandate.

Best Regards
John Mensa
London, United Kingdom.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam