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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: "bello martins" <bellomartins@msn.com>
Reply-To: bellomartins1@inmail24.com
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 01:30:34 +0000
Subject: FROM The Desk of:Dr.Bello Martins

FROM The Desk of:Dr.Bello Martins

Head of NNPC Accounting Dept.

Dear Sir,
INTRODUCTION:-
I am Dr.Bello Martins (an Accountant) head of accounting dept.with Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); under the auspices the Federal
Ministry of Petroleum. I and my partner (Engr. John Obi) are in search of an
agent to assist us in receiving the sum of {11,850 Million} Eleven Million,
Eight Hundred and Fifty U.S Dollars only, and subsequent
investment in Properties and/or any lucrative venture in your country.
ORIGINATION OF THE MONEY:-
It was realized from an over invoiced/inflated contract awarded to an Arab
Contractor for the Engineering, Procurement, Maintenance of existing Oil
Refinery in Nigeria with Contact No. NNPC/FGN/V1761/CON-2/02. The Job
completion certificate NO: FGN52071 was issued on 27th May, 2003 and
commissioned.
And the contractors' money fully paid leaving behind this over inflated sum
of $11,850 Million which we purposely procured for our personal use.
SHARING MODE:-
You shall be entitled to 20% of the total amount for assisting us, if you
will be of assistance to us in this regard. And 5% will be for any expense
incurred by both parties during the course of getting this money transferred
into your account. While the remaining 75% will be left for us{I and my
colleagues (2)}.
PROCEDURES OF THE TRANSFER:-
1. You will be purported as a Contractor owed by our government. All
documents to back up this claim are in our possession and as soon as you
indicate you interest, we will procure and swear an affidavit in the
high court and other necessary documents in your favor.
2. To commence, you will provide us with your information as such as your
full name and address, Tel and Fax numbers so that we can start the
processing of the required documents.
Kindly give this matter a prompt and quick reply . ON RECEIPT OF YOUR RETURN
MAIL WE WILL GIVE YOU MORE DETAILS WITH THIS REGARD.
Lastly, with scam/spam/Fraudulent mail plaguing the world today, this
Transaction is Subject for Verification. Thus I may request for a
pre-meeting to guaranteethe high level of credibility which this business
demands and I hope you will not betray the trust and confidence reposed on
you.
Yours Faithfully,
Dr.Bello Martins.
For: My colleagues and I.


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