Examples of 419 Scams

                                   
                                419 Scams Deceiving Messages

Recent global reports confirm that the crooks of the web are becoming more organized,their main objective stiil being the same: earn money by taking advantage of the naivety of users.

It is always unfortunate to see that one has fallen into the traps of a scammer, a crook, a racketeer, etc…

Mail scams are a speciality in English speaking African countries, mainly in Nigeria, known as SCAM or also called 419 fraud named after the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code which condemns them;they grow  more and more and contamine the subregional countries suc as Cote d’Ivoire.

Websites like stop-scammers help avoid being tricked by informing you, giving advice and examples of email scams in order to  help you overcome this very unpleasant impasse that is  often of serious consequences.

On the Net,we often see fake lotteries abound.The  gains, presentations and speeches may vary. To be credible, some have not hesitated to use the logos of the world famous companies like City bank or Microsoft, use fake signatures, false stamps, insert pictures of their leaders (e.g. Bill Gates), etc.. By disseminating such bulk messages to email random addresses or downloaded from Internet, the "organizers" of these lotteries have only one objective: be the first and only winners.

Do not dream! This kind of message is a gigantic and dangerous scam. For behind these names are hidden loan scammers who only intend to drain your bank account.

Are you wondering how that happens? If you show a modicum of interest in “their thing”, they offer you...

* ... whether to advance expenses…In order to accomplish money transfer, they tell you you need a lawyer. Under various pretexts, you are told that it is you who must advance legal fees. That done, they teach you that you must pay customs charges. You are done with those fees?You must now pay a tax measure etc… At each step, the scammers call for more money under some pretext. Until the abused get aware of the scam. The amounts can be very high (going from a few hundred dollars to over a hundred thousand dollars!)

* ... or disclose your bank details…To withdraw a certain amount of your  money, the crooks will obviously manage to get your bank account number. But at the same time,they profit from the opportunity and get a photocopy of your passport or driving license. With this information at hand, they usurp your identity and empty your bank account.

To avoid being scammed, let me give you some helpful tips:

- Do know that money never falls from the sky.

- Think about it still: There is no sure gain. This is why you need to get advice in every detail from a professional. You can then apply the following rule: Do not just decide after careful consideration. Take your time before investing your money.

- Do not give your email address or phone number to unknown websites.

 - Inquire with your bank, your asset manager.

- Get more information from your  financial advisor.

- If you doubt or believe you were a victim of investment fraud, notify the police immediately!

To whom can we trust? Only time can tell but ...

How do you spot a scammer? Here is a list of some characteristics of  crooks and their frequently used technics ...

Whether it is in English or French, all messages have some common points:

* They are all identical (the former wife of the son of the colonel of the brother of, etc ...).

* They are all in possession of a large sum of money (or diamonds, or gold, etc ...).

* They ask for your help and in return will reward you handsomely.

Yet they all have the same goal: Trick some money out.
Ø Scammers emails are OFTEN or ALWAYS written with UPPERCASE characters. This way of writing captures a lot more attention;they can be sure that you will read their email.They can also be written in some more professional ways in order to deceive you more.Here is an  example of scammer email that I received one day in my email box:

                                                  Greetings from Mr. Abhay Muhammed

Dear friend, I am Mr. Abhay Muhammed. THE MANAGER, AUDIT ANDACCOUNTING DEPT.BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) Burkina Faso. I hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that i am about to repose on you for the mutual benefit of our families.I need your urgent assistance in transferring sum of (USD $10.5) into your account within 10 to 14 banking days. This requires a private arrangement; the details of the transaction will be furnished to you if you indicate your interest in this proposal. 

This money has been dormant for years in our bank without claim, I want the bank to release the money to you as the nearest person (owner of the account)who died along with his entire family during the Iraq war in 2006 I don't want the money to go into our bank treasurer account as an abandoned fund. So this is the reason why i contact you so that the bank will release the money to you as the next of kin to the death customer and we share the money together. Please i would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret.

Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you full details on how the business project will be executed and also note that you will have 40% of the above mentioned sum.Kindly fill this information's requested below in returns then i will give you more details with application form for the claim.

Your full name: --

Your Country: --

Phone Number: --

Your Age and occupation: -- 

I expect your urgent response if you agree to handle this project. 

                                                    Best regard.

                                         Mr. Abhay Muhammed

Now,take a look at this other letter I also received one day in my email box:

I AM MRS JULIAN KONE

BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER.

BANK OF AFRICA (BOA)

OUAGADOUGOU , BURKINA FASO .

                                                            Dear Friend.

                                                          CONFIDENTIAL

I will like you to help me, in receiving of this fund into your Bank Account .However; it's just my urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this transaction. I am the manager of bill and exchange at the foreign remittance Department of BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) here in Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso. In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of (US$27.2 Million dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign Customer (MR. PAUL LOUIS from Paris, France) who died along with His entire family in July 2003 in a plane crash.

I am afraid if this money stays in our bank without claim for long period of time, our government will step in because

The Banking laws here does not allow such huge amount of money to stay

Dormant for more than 9years. And you will be receiving this money into your Bank account within 10 or 14 banking days.

The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after Eight years an above, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. I agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreign partner in respect to the provision of a foreign account, and while 70%would be for me.

If you agree to my business proposal, further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as I receive your return mail. Make sure you keep this transaction as your top secret and make it confidential till we receive the fund into the account that you will provide to the Bank. Don't disclose it to any body, because the secrecy of this transaction is as well as the success of it, have a great day.

Place contact me immediately

                                    
                                                           Yours faithfully.

                                                    MRS JULLIAN KONE

Ø In scammers’ emails, we often see the phrases "You have won ..." "You are the winner!", "Congratulations!", "Millions of euros ..." "Your email has won ... "," inheritance "," africa bank ", etc..
Ø They show you their ID, and of course it is false, but you will always be “genuine” to him,I mean your infromation. If you are unsure, do a little search on the internet  about the information of that person, maybe you'll have a few surprises.

Ø They tell you their life, “alledgely” because their trust you… A good crook is always a good pathological liar. Relatively, you may begin to trust his words.

Ø They have lots of important relationships you may benefit from... Basically, these are people whom they once deceived. Crooks may have great relationships in high places.Sometimes these relationships know they are crooks, sometimes not.

Ø Regularly, they ask you to explain in detail your ideas, which seem to fascinate them. All they tell you  always has some element of truth.

Ø All operations prepared by scammers usually take place following the same procedure.

Ø Honest people know that there is no such thing like being honest in life.Therefore  scammers, knowing the power of words usually “fill” their victims with beautiful words about how honest they are or wish to appear to them,in order to best defraud them.

Ø Typically, scammers inspire confidence, and no one would suppose that under their serious face,there is a criminal attempt. There are many opportunities to invest your money, but also many to defraud you.

Ø Crooks are also beginning to look at two new targets: online games and mobile phones. The first generates about 10 billion euros of revenue. The goal of hackers is to steal player accounts and then resell. Laptops reveal to be a promising target.

Ø Pirates are becoming more professional. They work in teams, and each has a specific role.

Eventually,with such a huge action array,of course scammers win!!!

If you happened to be a victim of any kind of scam,make sure you informed the police,no matter whether you are abroad or in your own country.You may not regret having done so.I’ll show you how to report a scam online in my coming reviews.Comments are welcome!Thanks!!!
More information about Online Scams :

Even more !!!

Busted Scammers

Suspected Scammers

A specific category of scams : Russian Scammers

The 419 Scams

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