joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
 Free trial for 30 days
   jwSpamSpy
Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "Lamidi Chris" <lamidichris@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: lamichris@myway.com
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 17:32:27 +0000
Subject: HOW IS YOUR DAY? MY GOOD FRIEND.

HOW IS YOUR DAY? MY GOOD FRIEND.
DEAR SIR,

THIS LETTER MAY COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE, PLEASE TREAT IT
LIKE A BLOOD BROTHER AFFAIR.
I AM LAMIDI CHRIS, THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT, WITH THE NIGERIAN
NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC).
I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE TO TRANSFER THE SUM OF THIRTY-THREE
MILLION, FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY
(US$33,400.000.00).THIS MONEY IS NOW DEPOSITED IN THE NNPC
TREASURY ACCOUNT WITH THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. THE SUM
AROSE FROM THE DELIBERATE OVER-INVOICING OF A CONTRACT
AWARDED BY THE NNPC TO A FOREIGN FIRM FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF
LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS PLANT (LNG) IN BONNY, SOUTHERN
NIGERIA DURING THE LAST MILITARY REGIME.

THIS CONTRACT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY EXECUTED AND COMMISSIONED
AND THE CONTRACTOR THAT HANDLED THIS CONTRACT HAS COLLECTED
HIS FINAL PAYMENT; THUS LEAVING BEHIND THE ABOVE STATED
AMOUNT WHICH REPRESENTS THE OVER INVOICED SUM. HOWEVER,
THE CODE OF CONDUCT BUREAU (CIVIL SERVANTS LAWS) DOES NOT
ALLOW US TO OWN AND OPERATE FOREIGN ACCOUNT, THEREFORE, I
NEEDED A FOREIGN PARTNER THAT WILL PRESENT HIMSELF AS THE
SUB-CONTRACTOR BY PROVIDING HIS BANK PARTICULARS SO THAT
THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO HIS ACCOUNT.

FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THIS BUSINESS, YOUR SHARE WILL BE
30% OF THE TOTAL SUM, 60% FOR ME, WHILE 10% WILL BE SET
ASIDE TO OFF-SET ANY EXPENSES WE MAY INCURE IN THE COURSE
OF THIS TRANSACTION. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ASSIST US IN
THIS TRANSACTION, PLEASE SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION THROUGH THIS PRIVATE
EMAIL ADDRESS;lamichris@myway.com
YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER FOR EASY
COMMUNICATION SO THAT I WILL GIVE YOU MORE DETAILS.
ALL MODALITIES FOR THE TAKE-OFF, OF THIS TRANSACTION HAS
BEEN WORKED OUT AND FURTHER ACTION WILL COMMENCE
IMMEDIATELY I HEAR FROM YOU. I SOLICIT FOR YOUR
CO-OPERATION, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION, PLEASE DO NOT
HESITATE TO ASK ME,

YOURS TRULY ,
LAMIDI CHRIS
(CHIEF ACCOUNTANT NNPC



Anti-fraud resources: