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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: =?gb2312?q?Bello=20Usman?= <bell4usman2001@yahoo.com.cn>
Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 10:52:28 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Transaction Contact. (PRIVATE)


ÎÒÓÐÒ»¸öеĵçÓʵØÖ·ÁË£¡ÄúÏÖÔÚ¿ÉÒÔ·¢µç×ÓÓʼþ¸øÎÒµ½£ºbell4usman2001@yahoo.com.cn

Transaction Contact. (PRIVATE)


Sir,


This letter might come as a surprise to you especially since we have


never met or discuss before. Basically, the message might sound


strange but it is factual in reality if only you care to know.


The truth is that I should have notified you first through a more


confidential means, (even if it's at

least to respect your integrity) please accept my humble apologies


if i had caught you unawares, i

frankly do not mean any harm in passing my message. We are


members of the Special Committee for Budget and Planning of the


Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. This committee is


principally concerned with contract appraisal and the approval of


contract in order of priorities as regards capital projects of the


federal excutive government of Nigeria with our positions we have


successfully secured for ourselves the sum of Twenty million five


hundred thousand dollars (us$20.5M) the amount was


accumulated from the over invoice.


Hence, together with some of the top officials of the Nigerian


National Petroleum Corporation and the Federal Ministry of


Finance. We plan to transfer this amount of money Twenty million


five hundred thousand dollars (us$20.5M) into an overseas


account by awarding a non existing contract from my ministry


(NNPC). To this effect i decided to contact you and ask for your


assistance. What we need from you sir, is to provide a very vital


account in which the funds will be transferred. My

colleagues and I have agreed to compensate the owner of the


account used for this transaction with 25% of the total amount


remitted. We shall keep 73% and remaining 2% reserved for taxes


and other miscellaneous expenses. Finally, the confidence and


trust reposed on you cannot be over emphasised. Therefore, you


are to keep this deal to yourself confidentially. Calibre of


personnels involved are men in government.So cannot effort to


loose our respective reputation to our dear country if jeopardise by


you.


Contact me urgently with private detial infomations for our easier


communication.



YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MR USMAN BELLO,

CHAIRMAN CONTACT AWARD & MONITORING COMMITTEE






- Bello Usman


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