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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: "IBRAHIM SANNI" <lngcontracts1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: pgglegal@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 19:42:48 +0700
Subject: I AM SORRY IF THIS OFFENDS YOU


DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES(DNR)
REPUBLIQUE D'BENIN MINERAL COOPERATION(RBMCC)
PLOT 225 KOFO ABAYOMI STREET PORTO NOVO,BENIN REP.
TEL: 229 970 857 68
E-mail:pgglegal@yahoo.com <E-mail%3Apgglegal@yahoo.com>
ATTENTION: THE PRESIDENT/ C.E.O
RE: URGENT & CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Dear SIR,
I hope this letter will not embarrass you since we have not had any
previous meeting or communication. I got your reference from your
country`s trade department under private enquiry that is not related to
my aim of writing you this letter and went further to have it confirmed by
the BENIN Exports Promotion Council (BEPC).
I am IBRAHIM SANNI Head of the above department of the
BENIN MINERAL COOPERATION(RBMCC),my term of reference involves the award of
contracts to multinational companies.My office is saddled with the
responsibility of contract award, screening, categorization and
prioritization of projects embarked upon by Department of Mineral Resources
(DMR) as well as feasibility studies for selected projects and supervising
the project consultants involved.
A breakdown of the fiscal expenditure by this office as at the end of
last fiscal quarter of 2007 indicates that DMR paid out a whooping sum
of US$936M (Nine Hundred And Thirty Six Million United States Dollars)
to successful local and foreign contract beneficiaries. The DMR is now
compiling beneficiaries to be paid for this final Quarter of the year
2008.
The crux of this letter is that the finance/contract department of the
DMR deliberately over-invoiced the contract value of the various
contracts awarded. In the course of disbursements, this department has
been able to accumulate the sum of US$36.6M (Thirty-Six Million, Six hundred
Thousand U.S Dollars) as the over-invoiced sum.
This money is currently in a suspense account of the DMR account with
the Debt Reconciliation Committee (DRC). We now seek to process the
transfer of this fund officially as contract payment to you as a
foreign contractor, who will be fronting for us as the beneficiary of the
fund.
In this way we can facilitate these funds into your nominated account
for possible investment abroad. We are not allowed as a matter of
government policy to operate any foreign account to transfer this fund
into.
However, for your involvement in assisting us with this transfer into
your nominated account we have evolved a sharing formula as follows:
(1) 30% for you as the foreign partner
(2) 65% for I and my colleagues
(3) 5% will be set aside to defray all incidental expenses both Locally
and Internationally during the course of this transaction.
We shall be relying on your advice as regard investment of our share in
any business in your country. Be informed that this business is genuine
and 100% safe considering the high-power government officials involved.
Send your private fax/telephone numbers . Upon your response we shall
provide you with further information on the procedures. Feel free to
call me using my direct and confidential TEL: 229 970 857 68 for
further clarifications and discussions. All enquiries should be directed to
me.
Looking forward to a good business relationship with you.
Sincerely,
IBRAHIM SANNI
email:pgglegal@yahoo.com <email%3Apgglegal@yahoo.com>
TEL: 229 970 857 68

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