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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: "DELL OSU" <dellosu@dellosu.com>
Reply-To: drdellosu_nnpc@box.az
Date: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 15:00:29 +0000
Subject: HELLO.

FROM THE DESK OF DR. DELL OSU
DIRECTOR, FUNDS CO-ORDINATOR
FINANCE / CONTRACT DEPARTMENT OF
NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC).
V/ISLAND, LAGOS,
NIGERIA.

EMAIL: dellosu_nnpc@box.az

DEAR FRIEND,

RE: URGENT & CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR THE TRANSFER OF 40.5 MILLION
UNITED STATES DOLLARS INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT.

I AM THE DIRECTOR, FUNDS COORDINATOR OF THE FINANCE/ CONTRACT DEPARTMENT OF
THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC). MY OFFICE IS ALSO
SADDLED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SCREENING, CATEGORIZATION AND
PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS EMBARKED UPON BY NNPC AS WELL AS FEASIBILITY
STUDIES FOR SELECTED PROJECTS AND SUPERVISING THE PROJECTS CONSULTANTS
INVOLVED. A BREAKDOWN OF THE FISCAL EXPENDITURE BY THIS OFFICE AS AT THE END
OF THE FOURTH FISCAL QUARTER OF 2004 INDICATES THAT THE NNPC PAID OUT A
WHOOPING SUM OF US$736M (SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX MILLION, UNITED STATES
DOLLARS) TO SUCCESSFUL CONTRACT BENEFICIARIES.THE NNPC IS NOW COMPILING
BENEFICIARIES TO BE PAID AT THE FOURTH FISCAL QUARTER OF 2005.

THE CRUX OF THIS LETTER IS THAT THE FINANCE/CONTRACT DEPARTMENT OF THE NNPC
DELIBERATELY OVER-INFLATED THE CONTRACT VALUE OF THE VARIOUS CONTRACTS
AWARDED. IN THE COURSE OF DISBURSEMENT, THIS DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN ABLE TO
TRACK DOWN THE SUM OF US$40.5M (FORTY MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND U.S.
DOLLARS) AS THE OVER-INVOICED SUM. THIS MONEY IS NOW LYING AND FLOATING IN
THE NNPC DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT WITH THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN). I AND
MY COLLEAGUES NOW WANT TO QUICKLY TRANSFER THIS FUND TO A SAFE NOMINATE
FOREIGN ACCOUNT FOR POSSIBLE INVESTMENT ABROAD.

WE ARE NOT ALLOWED AS A MATTER OF GOVERNMENT POLICY TO OPERATE ANY FOREIGN
ACCOUNT BECAUSE OF OUR STATUS AS CIVIL/PUBLIC SERVANTS. HENCE THE NEED TO
SOLICIT FOR YOUR FULL BANKING DETAILS TO ENABLE US TRANSFER THIS MONEY INTO
YOUR ACCOUNT ON SWIFT CODE.

WE HAVE ALSO EVOLVED A SHARING FORMULA AS FOLLOWS:-

(1)40% FOR THE FOREIGN ACCOUNT OWNER
(2) 60% FOR L AND MY COLLEAGUES

FURTHERMORE, WE SHALL BE COMING OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY WHEN THE MONEY IS
FINALLY IN YOUR ACCOUNT AND WE SHALL BE RELYING ON YOUR ADVICE AS REGARDS TO
INVESTMENT OF OUR SHARE. BE INFORMED THAT, THIS BUSINESS IS GENUINE AND 100%
SAFE CONSIDERING THE HIGH POWERED GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INVOLVED.

SEND BY EMAIL ATTACHED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:-

(1)YOUR FULL NAMES, ADDRESS, TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER FOR EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION,
(2)YOUR COMPANY NAME AND ADDRESS, YOUR AGE, SEX, OCCUPATION.
(3)BANK NAME, ADDRESS AND ACCOUNT NUMBER ROUTING NUMBER AND SWIFT CODE.

THIS IS TO AFFECT THE SWIFT TRANSFER OF THIS FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT IN LESS
THAN SEVEN (7) WORKING DAYS.
PLEASE REPLY IMMEDIATELY THROUGH MY EMAIL ADDRESS:- dellosu_nnpc@box.az

WHILE LOOKING FORWARD TO A HEALTHY BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.

SINCERELY,
DR. DELL OSU.
DIRECTOR, FUNDS CO-ORDINATOR
FINANCE / CONTRACT DEPARTMENT OF
NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC).
V/ISLAND, LAGOS,
NIGERIA.


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