John Fairheart
5 December 2005, 15:00
Types of 419 Advance Fee Fraud
By John Fairheart - December 4, 2005
Although there are many "419 Scammers", there are only a few different types of "419 Scams". The actual wording of each email can be very different, but the underlying scam can be categorized as follows:-
<a href="#businv">Business Investment</a>
<a href="#deadre">Dead Relative</a>
<a href="#dyinwi">Dying Wish</a>
<a href="#lotto">Lottery</a>
<a href="#nextok">Next Of Kin</a>
<a href="#oicont">Over Invoiced Contract</a>
The 6 categories shown above form the basic toolkit of the "419 Scammer", each scam designed to remove your money from your pocket.
<a name="businv">1. Business Investment</a>
This is probably one of the least popular of the 419 scams. This may be due to the fact that many people simply ignore "business opportunity" emails, because they are not in business.
Here is a typical example of this letter format.
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 6:56:59 +0700
From: "Roselyn_acheampong" <roselyn_acheampong@mailfreei.com>
Subject: Investor & Partner
Investor & Partner
From: Engineer, Roselyn Acheampong (Mrs)
Hello my friend,
I am looking for a reliable and honest person (Business intellectual) who must have good knowledge about INVESTMENT PROJECTS, in the area of estate commercial building projects and 3 stars Hotel projects.
Here is brief introduction of myself: I am Roselyn Acheampong, from Ghana in West Africa. Presently I am preparing for my retirement next year 2006, due to my serious health problem. I am the Director of mines at; ASHANTI GOLD FIELDS (TARKWA – GHANA) I have huge money in my possession I plans to invest into a 3 Stars Hotel Project and also building of estate commercial houses at a good neighbor hood in your country or elsewhere at (free tax zone place) This money (US$38.000, 000) Thirty eight million United States dollars, are currently deposited at a private account somewhere? For safe keeping, I have worked and saved it for many years. Now I propose to invest about $20 million into building of 3 stars hotel and putting $5 million, into building of estate commercial houses. These fund can be transfer into your company's or personal account for the aforementioned projects, after building a mutual good business relationship with you and trusting you to handle such projects on my behalf and family. However, I am prepared to offer you 20% of my total funds ($38 million, in good faith) to enable you work with me in honesty. If you are prepare to partner with me and handle such projects, then your immediate reply will be needed together with your full contacts information. You can contact me through my email address below. Awaiting your reply.
Thank you and May God bless us.
--
Mrs. Roselyn Acheampong
For: Acheampong Family
Option, E-mail: roselyn_acheampong@excite.com
The idea is that you will know the person is approaching retirement and is ill, this promotes sympathy from you the victim. The story about the investments itself are not relevant, but there is an obvious need for "trust".
The bulk of this "story" revolves around the offer of 20% of the total sum. That's 7.6 Million US Dollars on the table ($7,600,000.00) in this case. Offers of huge amounts of money for doing very little isn't ever going to happen to any of us. This in itself is probably why many scammers don't use this letter.
<a name="deadre">2. Dead Relative</a>
The dead relative scam is one of the more popular formats of letter used by the "419 Scammer". There are many different styles, but the theme is always identical. An example follows:
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 07:49:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Joicy Yorime <joicy1983@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hello
Hello My Dear, I am writting this letter with due respect and heartful of tears since we have not known or met ourselves previously. I am asking for your assistance after I have gone through a profile that speaks good of you.I will be so glad if you can allow and lead me to the right channel towards your assistance to my situation now.I will make my proposal well known if I am given the opportunity. I would like to use this opportunity to introduce myself to you. well, i am Joicy, 22years old girl and I know that this proposal might be a surprise to you but do consider it as an emmergency. In nutshell, My(late)father John Winpoe Yormie,was the deputy minister of national security, in my country Liberia in West africa. But he was killed along side with Issac Nuhan Vaye, deputy minister of public, they was falsely accused of plotting to remove the then PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA (CHARLES TAYLOR) from office. Without trial, Charles Taylor killed them.You can verify this from some of the international newspapers posted in the web sites below: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-07-15-liberia_x.htm
And all his properties was totally destroyed. However, after his death I managed to escape with a very important document (DEPOSIT CERTIFICATE of (US$10.5m)Ten million Five hundred thousand U.S Dollars deposited by my late father in A SECURITY AND FINANCE COMPANY)which i am the next of kin. Meanwhile,i am saddled with the problem of securing a trust worthy foriegn personality to help me transfer the money over to his country and into his possession pending my arrival to meet with him.
Furthermore,you can contact the security company for confirmation and i will issue a letter of authorisation on your name,that will enable the security company to deal with you on my behalf. Conclusively,i wish you send me a reply immediately as soon as you recieve this proposal. You can contact me at this email address (joicy1983@yahoo.com) For confidential purposes, your urgent reply will be highly appreciated.
Thanks, Miss Joicy.
The usual ploy is to make you the reader feel sorry for this person. So phrases like "I am writting this letter with due respect and heartful of tears" are common.
Next we have the actual key to the letter format itself, a relative of the writer has been killed, but prior to becoming deceased they told of a stash of cash. In most cases the cash (or family jewels) is deposited in a "Security Company", and you are being asked to take ownership of the funds, and transfer them to your own account.
<a name="dyinwi">3. Dying Wish</a>
The dying wish is probably one of the most difficult letters to read, as they always deal with someone being afflicted with a serious (and terminal) disease, usually cancer.
Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 16:30:44 +0000
From: "Mrs Elizabeth Alamin" <mrselizabethalamin@msn.com>
Subject: HUMBLE DONATION
My Lordship,
Calvary greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am former Mrs Fatima Aisha Alamin, now MrsElizabeth Alamin, a widow to late Sheik Mohammed Alamin.
I am 74 years old, I am now a new Christian convert suffering from long time cancer of the breast and from all indications that my
condition is really deteriorating and is quite obvious that I won't live more than six months because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage.
My Late husband was killed during the Gulf war and at that period of our marriage, we could'nt produce any child. My late husband was very wealthy and after his death, I inherited all his business and Wealth.The doctor has advised me that I may not leave for more
than six months so I now decided to divide part of this wealth and to contribute to the development of the church in Africa,America,Europe and Asian countries.
The mission which will no doubt be tasking had made me to relocate to
Nigeria in Africa where I leave presently. I selected your church after visiting the website and prayed over it. I am willing to donate the sum of $2.000,000.00 Million US Dollars to your Ministry for the
development of
your Church and also for the less priviledged.Please note that the fund is lying in a Security Company in London,therfore my lawyer will file an application for the transfer of the money in the name
of your Ministry.
Lastly, I honestly pray that this money when transfered to your
Account, will be used for the said purpose because I have come to
find out that wealth acquisition without Christ is Vanity upon Vanity.
If you have to die says the Lord, keep fit and I willgive you the crown of life. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of
God and the Full
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
I wait your urgent response.
Yours in Christ.
Christiana Alamin,
4A George Close
Zaria,
Nigeria.
Email:mrselizabethalamin@yahoo.com
These scams fill you with many different emotions, whether you believe the letter or not. Here, the main purpose is one of acquiring sympathy from the reader.
The writer is always on death's-door and wants to donate a huge sum of money. You are being asked to provide the transport for the movement of this vast sum. It looks innocent doesn't it? There is no mention of giving you a cut of the money (though some of the dying wish letters do make mention of it). It simply looks like a dying widow wanting to do good through you.
Why the writer cannot send a cheque to their local church charity, or the Red Cross, or a multitude of other charities (all available online) is beyond comprehension.
<a name="lotto">4. Lottery</a>
Lottery scams have been around for a while, and are hugely popular amongst the scammers. The driving force behind the Lottery scam is greed. Not the greed of the scammer, but the greed of the winner!
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 18:58:49 +0100 (CET)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE A WINNER.
From: info_uknational_lotto_2005@ozu.es
CONTROLLER
The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#942) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Friday 2nd of December,2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:4-6-9-12-15-40 (bonus no.25), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.
You have therefore been approved to claim total sum of GBP 55,000.00 (Fifty
five thousand,Great Britain pounds sterlings) in cash credited to file number UK/2471981.
This is from a total cash prize of GBP 350,000.00 ( Great Britain pounds ) shared amongst the first Fifty (50) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5
plus bonus.All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your GBP 55,000.00 (Fifty five thousand Great Britain pounds sterling) will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim,Please contact our Fiduciary agent;
Mr RICHARD FREEMAN.
Ice Gold Finance UK
Electron House
43 London Road
Reigate, Surrey RH2 9PW
United Kingdom
Official Email:claimsfiduciaryagent2005@yahoo.co.uk
Tel ; +447031941946
Fax ;+4480704787502
Endeavour to email him your full names,winning numbers,email
address,telephone and fax numbers immediately.
Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Rose Wood (Mrs)
Online coordinator for THE NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of different Lottery emails, but in every case, no matter what the email states, if you didn't buy a ticket, it's FAKE! All of them... yes, every one of them. FAKE FAKE FAKE.
<a name="nextok">5. Next Of Kin</a>
Next we come to another popular scam, the next-of-kin. An example:-
Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 05:44:43 +0200
From: "Bruno Johnson" <brunojohnson22@hotmail.com>
Subject: Urgent and Confidential
220 Balham High Road
Central London W17 7BQ
United Kingdom.
Hello ,
I know that this mail will come to you out of the blue as a total surprise. Well, I have a business proposal which I believe might interest you. I believe that you would be in a position to assist me in my bid to transfer the sum of (£18.5M.) Eighteen Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds into a foreign bank account.
I am Dr Bruno Johnson,an Auditor of a bank here in London.During the course of our auditing,I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank in 1999 and since 2000 nobody has operated on this account.After a lot of investigation I discovered that the owner of the bank account died without a beneficiary. The money is floating and if I do not remit this money out it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of the account is a foreigner. He died since 2000 and the bank account has no other beneficiary. My investigation proved to me that nobody knows about this account or anything concerning it. So I want to grab this opportunity, as it is no harm to nobody.
I am here soliciting for your assistance as a foreigner because the money cannot be approved to anybody here. But It can be approved to a foreigner with valid international passport or drivers license and foreign bank account because the former owner of the account is a foreigner. The management must approve this payment to you if you have the correct
information of this account, which I will give to you,upon your positive response and once I am convinced that you are capable and will meet up with instruction of key bank official who is deeply involved with me in this project.
With my influence and the position of the bank officials, we can transfer this money to any foreigner's reliable account, which you can provide with assurance that this money will be intact pending our physical arrival at your end for sharing. Note that an existing foreign bank account or an empty account can serve to receive this money.
At the conclusion of this business, you will be give 20% of the total amount, 75% will be for the bank official and I, while 5% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during the course of this
transaction. May I stop here. Reply urgently so that I will inform you the next step to take. Send also your private phone and fax number including the full details of the bank account to be used for the deposit.You can call me now.
phone..+44-7236740312
Regards.
Dr Bruno Johnson.
So, what do we have here? In a nut-shell, you the reader are being asked to stand as the next of kin to a deceased individual. There can be no excuses with this scam, no "I did not know"...
To present yourself as the Next-Of-Kin to someone who is not of your family... IS ILLEGAL. In the real world, you would end up in jail for a long time by attempting to pass yourself off as a next-of-kin.
This type of scam can turn nasty when you want to walk away. If you beleive the scam, the scammer can threaten you with exposure, the police, the press... effectively holding you to ransom.
<a name="oicont">6. Over Invoiced Contract</a>
Another popular form of "419 Scam" is this one, the over invoiced contract scam:-
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 17:32:02 +0000 (GMT)
From: NELSON CYRIL <nelson1_cyril@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: NNPC JOINT VENTURE.
NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC) LONDON.
The Oakroom Lounge.
81 Chesham Place, London, SW1X 8HQ
+44 703 1910306, 44 703 1910307
Hello.
I am Eng. Nelson Cyril of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) London office. With the assistance of some senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance and our office here in London, we want to quietly transfer the sum of £21.5m from NNPC offshore account here in London TO OVERSEA TRUST ACCOUNT. This £21.5 Million arose from over-invoicing of contract receipts for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the two Port Harcourt and three Kaduna refineries in Nigeria and also the rehabilitation of Petroleum pipelines, depot and Jetties.
The Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum resources have approved the total value of £280m, and the payment of foreign contractors from Japan, France and U.S.A. has already started, because most part of the work for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) has been fully Completed, we will use your company as a consultant and job costing contractor to NNPC so that the £21.5m can be transferred into your account without any hitch whatsoever.
If you are interested in assisting us in this transaction, please contact me immediately to enable us discuss further details for the successful completion of this transaction.
Regards.
Nelson Cyril.
This type of scam comes in many flavors; NNPC, Nigerian Banks and many more. The underlying story is always the same of course. Huge amounts of 'contractor' money going begging.
You the reader are invited by the scammer to pass yourself off as the beneficiary to the fund. Oh yes, that big nasty beast yet again... GREED!
In a similar way to the next-of-kin scam, you (the victim) are attempting to pass yourself off as the benificiary to a fund you have no right to. Again, in the real world, the jail sentence for such an act would be severe because it is ILLEGAL.
The scammer is more than aware of the illegal nature of your commitment (if you beleive), and will again hold you to ransom at the threat of exposure to the authorities.
SUMMARY
This has been a very brief look at the 'classic' 419 scams that invade our world. In all cases you will be asked for a fee. It may take some time, it may not be obvious, but you WILL be asked to spend money.
... and 9 times out of 10, it will be a fee payable via Western Union. Untraceable, non-refundable... GONE, FOREVER.
Be careful out there!
Copyright © 2005 FraudWaters.org
By John Fairheart - December 4, 2005
Although there are many "419 Scammers", there are only a few different types of "419 Scams". The actual wording of each email can be very different, but the underlying scam can be categorized as follows:-
<a href="#businv">Business Investment</a>
<a href="#deadre">Dead Relative</a>
<a href="#dyinwi">Dying Wish</a>
<a href="#lotto">Lottery</a>
<a href="#nextok">Next Of Kin</a>
<a href="#oicont">Over Invoiced Contract</a>
The 6 categories shown above form the basic toolkit of the "419 Scammer", each scam designed to remove your money from your pocket.
<a name="businv">1. Business Investment</a>
This is probably one of the least popular of the 419 scams. This may be due to the fact that many people simply ignore "business opportunity" emails, because they are not in business.
Here is a typical example of this letter format.
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 6:56:59 +0700
From: "Roselyn_acheampong" <roselyn_acheampong@mailfreei.com>
Subject: Investor & Partner
Investor & Partner
From: Engineer, Roselyn Acheampong (Mrs)
Hello my friend,
I am looking for a reliable and honest person (Business intellectual) who must have good knowledge about INVESTMENT PROJECTS, in the area of estate commercial building projects and 3 stars Hotel projects.
Here is brief introduction of myself: I am Roselyn Acheampong, from Ghana in West Africa. Presently I am preparing for my retirement next year 2006, due to my serious health problem. I am the Director of mines at; ASHANTI GOLD FIELDS (TARKWA – GHANA) I have huge money in my possession I plans to invest into a 3 Stars Hotel Project and also building of estate commercial houses at a good neighbor hood in your country or elsewhere at (free tax zone place) This money (US$38.000, 000) Thirty eight million United States dollars, are currently deposited at a private account somewhere? For safe keeping, I have worked and saved it for many years. Now I propose to invest about $20 million into building of 3 stars hotel and putting $5 million, into building of estate commercial houses. These fund can be transfer into your company's or personal account for the aforementioned projects, after building a mutual good business relationship with you and trusting you to handle such projects on my behalf and family. However, I am prepared to offer you 20% of my total funds ($38 million, in good faith) to enable you work with me in honesty. If you are prepare to partner with me and handle such projects, then your immediate reply will be needed together with your full contacts information. You can contact me through my email address below. Awaiting your reply.
Thank you and May God bless us.
--
Mrs. Roselyn Acheampong
For: Acheampong Family
Option, E-mail: roselyn_acheampong@excite.com
The idea is that you will know the person is approaching retirement and is ill, this promotes sympathy from you the victim. The story about the investments itself are not relevant, but there is an obvious need for "trust".
The bulk of this "story" revolves around the offer of 20% of the total sum. That's 7.6 Million US Dollars on the table ($7,600,000.00) in this case. Offers of huge amounts of money for doing very little isn't ever going to happen to any of us. This in itself is probably why many scammers don't use this letter.
<a name="deadre">2. Dead Relative</a>
The dead relative scam is one of the more popular formats of letter used by the "419 Scammer". There are many different styles, but the theme is always identical. An example follows:
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 07:49:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Joicy Yorime <joicy1983@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hello
Hello My Dear, I am writting this letter with due respect and heartful of tears since we have not known or met ourselves previously. I am asking for your assistance after I have gone through a profile that speaks good of you.I will be so glad if you can allow and lead me to the right channel towards your assistance to my situation now.I will make my proposal well known if I am given the opportunity. I would like to use this opportunity to introduce myself to you. well, i am Joicy, 22years old girl and I know that this proposal might be a surprise to you but do consider it as an emmergency. In nutshell, My(late)father John Winpoe Yormie,was the deputy minister of national security, in my country Liberia in West africa. But he was killed along side with Issac Nuhan Vaye, deputy minister of public, they was falsely accused of plotting to remove the then PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA (CHARLES TAYLOR) from office. Without trial, Charles Taylor killed them.You can verify this from some of the international newspapers posted in the web sites below: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-07-15-liberia_x.htm
And all his properties was totally destroyed. However, after his death I managed to escape with a very important document (DEPOSIT CERTIFICATE of (US$10.5m)Ten million Five hundred thousand U.S Dollars deposited by my late father in A SECURITY AND FINANCE COMPANY)which i am the next of kin. Meanwhile,i am saddled with the problem of securing a trust worthy foriegn personality to help me transfer the money over to his country and into his possession pending my arrival to meet with him.
Furthermore,you can contact the security company for confirmation and i will issue a letter of authorisation on your name,that will enable the security company to deal with you on my behalf. Conclusively,i wish you send me a reply immediately as soon as you recieve this proposal. You can contact me at this email address (joicy1983@yahoo.com) For confidential purposes, your urgent reply will be highly appreciated.
Thanks, Miss Joicy.
The usual ploy is to make you the reader feel sorry for this person. So phrases like "I am writting this letter with due respect and heartful of tears" are common.
Next we have the actual key to the letter format itself, a relative of the writer has been killed, but prior to becoming deceased they told of a stash of cash. In most cases the cash (or family jewels) is deposited in a "Security Company", and you are being asked to take ownership of the funds, and transfer them to your own account.
<a name="dyinwi">3. Dying Wish</a>
The dying wish is probably one of the most difficult letters to read, as they always deal with someone being afflicted with a serious (and terminal) disease, usually cancer.
Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 16:30:44 +0000
From: "Mrs Elizabeth Alamin" <mrselizabethalamin@msn.com>
Subject: HUMBLE DONATION
My Lordship,
Calvary greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am former Mrs Fatima Aisha Alamin, now MrsElizabeth Alamin, a widow to late Sheik Mohammed Alamin.
I am 74 years old, I am now a new Christian convert suffering from long time cancer of the breast and from all indications that my
condition is really deteriorating and is quite obvious that I won't live more than six months because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage.
My Late husband was killed during the Gulf war and at that period of our marriage, we could'nt produce any child. My late husband was very wealthy and after his death, I inherited all his business and Wealth.The doctor has advised me that I may not leave for more
than six months so I now decided to divide part of this wealth and to contribute to the development of the church in Africa,America,Europe and Asian countries.
The mission which will no doubt be tasking had made me to relocate to
Nigeria in Africa where I leave presently. I selected your church after visiting the website and prayed over it. I am willing to donate the sum of $2.000,000.00 Million US Dollars to your Ministry for the
development of
your Church and also for the less priviledged.Please note that the fund is lying in a Security Company in London,therfore my lawyer will file an application for the transfer of the money in the name
of your Ministry.
Lastly, I honestly pray that this money when transfered to your
Account, will be used for the said purpose because I have come to
find out that wealth acquisition without Christ is Vanity upon Vanity.
If you have to die says the Lord, keep fit and I willgive you the crown of life. May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of
God and the Full
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.
I wait your urgent response.
Yours in Christ.
Christiana Alamin,
4A George Close
Zaria,
Nigeria.
Email:mrselizabethalamin@yahoo.com
These scams fill you with many different emotions, whether you believe the letter or not. Here, the main purpose is one of acquiring sympathy from the reader.
The writer is always on death's-door and wants to donate a huge sum of money. You are being asked to provide the transport for the movement of this vast sum. It looks innocent doesn't it? There is no mention of giving you a cut of the money (though some of the dying wish letters do make mention of it). It simply looks like a dying widow wanting to do good through you.
Why the writer cannot send a cheque to their local church charity, or the Red Cross, or a multitude of other charities (all available online) is beyond comprehension.
<a name="lotto">4. Lottery</a>
Lottery scams have been around for a while, and are hugely popular amongst the scammers. The driving force behind the Lottery scam is greed. Not the greed of the scammer, but the greed of the winner!
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 18:58:49 +0100 (CET)
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU ARE A WINNER.
From: info_uknational_lotto_2005@ozu.es
CONTROLLER
The National Lottery
P O Box 1010
Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
WINNING NOTIFICATION:
We happily announce to you the draw (#942) of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY, online Sweepstakes International program held on Friday 2nd of December,2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:56475600545 188 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:4-6-9-12-15-40 (bonus no.25), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category i.e match 5 plus bonus.
You have therefore been approved to claim total sum of GBP 55,000.00 (Fifty
five thousand,Great Britain pounds sterlings) in cash credited to file number UK/2471981.
This is from a total cash prize of GBP 350,000.00 ( Great Britain pounds ) shared amongst the first Fifty (50) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5
plus bonus.All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. This promotion takes place weekly. your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your GBP 55,000.00 (Fifty five thousand Great Britain pounds sterling) will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claim is processed and your money remitted to you in whatever manner you deem fit to claim your prize.
This is part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program. Please be warned.
To file for your claim,Please contact our Fiduciary agent;
Mr RICHARD FREEMAN.
Ice Gold Finance UK
Electron House
43 London Road
Reigate, Surrey RH2 9PW
United Kingdom
Official Email:claimsfiduciaryagent2005@yahoo.co.uk
Tel ; +447031941946
Fax ;+4480704787502
Endeavour to email him your full names,winning numbers,email
address,telephone and fax numbers immediately.
Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE NATIONAL LOTTERY.
Yours faithfully,
Rose Wood (Mrs)
Online coordinator for THE NATIONAL LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of different Lottery emails, but in every case, no matter what the email states, if you didn't buy a ticket, it's FAKE! All of them... yes, every one of them. FAKE FAKE FAKE.
<a name="nextok">5. Next Of Kin</a>
Next we come to another popular scam, the next-of-kin. An example:-
Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 05:44:43 +0200
From: "Bruno Johnson" <brunojohnson22@hotmail.com>
Subject: Urgent and Confidential
220 Balham High Road
Central London W17 7BQ
United Kingdom.
Hello ,
I know that this mail will come to you out of the blue as a total surprise. Well, I have a business proposal which I believe might interest you. I believe that you would be in a position to assist me in my bid to transfer the sum of (£18.5M.) Eighteen Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds into a foreign bank account.
I am Dr Bruno Johnson,an Auditor of a bank here in London.During the course of our auditing,I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank in 1999 and since 2000 nobody has operated on this account.After a lot of investigation I discovered that the owner of the bank account died without a beneficiary. The money is floating and if I do not remit this money out it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of the account is a foreigner. He died since 2000 and the bank account has no other beneficiary. My investigation proved to me that nobody knows about this account or anything concerning it. So I want to grab this opportunity, as it is no harm to nobody.
I am here soliciting for your assistance as a foreigner because the money cannot be approved to anybody here. But It can be approved to a foreigner with valid international passport or drivers license and foreign bank account because the former owner of the account is a foreigner. The management must approve this payment to you if you have the correct
information of this account, which I will give to you,upon your positive response and once I am convinced that you are capable and will meet up with instruction of key bank official who is deeply involved with me in this project.
With my influence and the position of the bank officials, we can transfer this money to any foreigner's reliable account, which you can provide with assurance that this money will be intact pending our physical arrival at your end for sharing. Note that an existing foreign bank account or an empty account can serve to receive this money.
At the conclusion of this business, you will be give 20% of the total amount, 75% will be for the bank official and I, while 5% will be for expenses both parties might have incurred during the course of this
transaction. May I stop here. Reply urgently so that I will inform you the next step to take. Send also your private phone and fax number including the full details of the bank account to be used for the deposit.You can call me now.
phone..+44-7236740312
Regards.
Dr Bruno Johnson.
So, what do we have here? In a nut-shell, you the reader are being asked to stand as the next of kin to a deceased individual. There can be no excuses with this scam, no "I did not know"...
To present yourself as the Next-Of-Kin to someone who is not of your family... IS ILLEGAL. In the real world, you would end up in jail for a long time by attempting to pass yourself off as a next-of-kin.
This type of scam can turn nasty when you want to walk away. If you beleive the scam, the scammer can threaten you with exposure, the police, the press... effectively holding you to ransom.
<a name="oicont">6. Over Invoiced Contract</a>
Another popular form of "419 Scam" is this one, the over invoiced contract scam:-
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 17:32:02 +0000 (GMT)
From: NELSON CYRIL <nelson1_cyril@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: NNPC JOINT VENTURE.
NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC) LONDON.
The Oakroom Lounge.
81 Chesham Place, London, SW1X 8HQ
+44 703 1910306, 44 703 1910307
Hello.
I am Eng. Nelson Cyril of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) London office. With the assistance of some senior official of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance and our office here in London, we want to quietly transfer the sum of £21.5m from NNPC offshore account here in London TO OVERSEA TRUST ACCOUNT. This £21.5 Million arose from over-invoicing of contract receipts for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the two Port Harcourt and three Kaduna refineries in Nigeria and also the rehabilitation of Petroleum pipelines, depot and Jetties.
The Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum resources have approved the total value of £280m, and the payment of foreign contractors from Japan, France and U.S.A. has already started, because most part of the work for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) has been fully Completed, we will use your company as a consultant and job costing contractor to NNPC so that the £21.5m can be transferred into your account without any hitch whatsoever.
If you are interested in assisting us in this transaction, please contact me immediately to enable us discuss further details for the successful completion of this transaction.
Regards.
Nelson Cyril.
This type of scam comes in many flavors; NNPC, Nigerian Banks and many more. The underlying story is always the same of course. Huge amounts of 'contractor' money going begging.
You the reader are invited by the scammer to pass yourself off as the beneficiary to the fund. Oh yes, that big nasty beast yet again... GREED!
In a similar way to the next-of-kin scam, you (the victim) are attempting to pass yourself off as the benificiary to a fund you have no right to. Again, in the real world, the jail sentence for such an act would be severe because it is ILLEGAL.
The scammer is more than aware of the illegal nature of your commitment (if you beleive), and will again hold you to ransom at the threat of exposure to the authorities.
SUMMARY
This has been a very brief look at the 'classic' 419 scams that invade our world. In all cases you will be asked for a fee. It may take some time, it may not be obvious, but you WILL be asked to spend money.
... and 9 times out of 10, it will be a fee payable via Western Union. Untraceable, non-refundable... GONE, FOREVER.
Be careful out there!
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