419 scam: "Managing Director/CEO" <johnokonji455@gmail.com> I HAVE A BUSINESS OF US$1.5 MILLION THAT WE WILL DO TOGETHER.

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:
- "million us 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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Managing Director/CEO" <johnokonji455@gmail.com>
Reply-To: www.info6@firemail.de
Date: Thu, 18 May 2023 00:27:45 -1100
Subject: I HAVE A BUSINESS OF US$1.5 MILLION THAT WE WILL DO TOGETHER.

--
Hello Dear,

I am Ebenezer Onyeagwu I work with Zenith Bank PLC.
Please Can you use Bank Draft or an ATM Visa card to withdraw money at
an ATM cash machine in your country? I want to transfer money to you
from my country; itâ€™s part of money taken by some old politicians that
was forced out of power.

I will change the account details to yours, and apply for Bank Draft
or a visa card with your details in our bank, they will send the visa
card to you and you will be withdrawing money with it and always send
my own percentage of the money, and the money we are talking about is
$1.5 Million US dollars.

Whatever amount you withdraw daily, you will send 50% to me and you
will take 50%, the visa card and the bank account will be on your
name, I will be waiting for your information as soon as possible.

Your name................
Address..................
Age......................
Sex......................
Country..................
Occupation...............
Phone number.............

Yours Faithfully,
Ebenezer Onyeagwu
Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank PLC

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam