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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
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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.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "www.cenbank.org" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +2348037984946 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • cbn_contracts_department@yahoo.com

Fraud email example:

From: "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA" <cbn_contracts_department150@hotmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: cbn_contracts_department@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 07:15:25 +0100
Subject: Attention: Your Long Overdue Payment From Central Bank of Nigeria.

>From The Desk of:
Dr. Douglas Jones
Central Bank of Nigeria
Payment Office
Independence House
Abuja - Nigeria
www.cenbank.org
Tel/Fax: +234-48-881731


ATTENTION: YOUR LONG OVERDUE PAYMENT FROM CBN NIGERIA.

I saw your name in the Central Bank of Nigeria's computer among the list of individuals and companies that the Central Bank of Nigeria had been owing for a long time now.
According to the information retrieved from the computer, you are owed the sum of US$18.5Million (Eighteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). I am
presently processing your payment and would like you to furnish me with the following details:

(1) Your current physical address. This is to enable me to send your cheque as soon as it is ready.
(2) The name that your cheque will bear.
(3) Your telephone number. This is for voice communication.
(4)You are also required to forward a scanned copy of your passport or driver's license.

Once again, I apologize to you on behalf of the Central Bank of Nigeria for our failure to pay your funds, which according to records in the system had been long overdue.
Send the requested information by email to this address cbn_contracts_department@yahoo.com.

You may call me on this direct phone number +234-80-379-84946 at anytime for the remaining details.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Douglas Jones
(CBN Foreign Remittance Director Nigeria)

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam