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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Paul Andrew" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <secretaryoffice101@minister.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2020 20:09:16 -0700
Subject: RE : Please treat with utmost confidentiality...

From: Mr. Paul Andrew
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC)
49 Road Close A House 14,
Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi,
Lagos Nigeria.
Email:COPY AND REPLY-TO  paulandrew.nnpc@protonmail.com
 
Dear Sir,
 
I am sorry for contacting you through this medium without any previous
notice. I am a senior staff with Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation, (NNPC).  My colleagues and I intentionally over-invoiced
a contract award to the tune of USD50m. All arrangements have been
concluded on how to transfer this fund into a safe foreign account
after the original contractor has been fully paid. By virtue of our
Civil service code of conduct, serving officers are not allowed to
Operate foreign bank accounts.
This is why I am seeking your mutual involvement to work with me in
getting the over-invoiced sum USD50m transferred into your foreign
Bank account for our benefit. Please indicate your interest via email
hence other modalities will be discussed. There is no risk involved
and the fund transfer will have full legal backup.
 
Kindly reply only to Email: paulandrew.nnpc@protonmail.com
Please treat with utmost confidentiality.
 
 
Best Regard

Anti-fraud resources: