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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: martinofurum212@myway.com
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:49:44 -0800
Subject: DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN PAYMENT BUREAU.


DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN PAYMENT BUREAU.
UNITED NATION EMISSARY.
TELEPHONE:234-80-66-224562.

COMPLIMENT OF THE DAY,

WITH REFERENCE TO THE NEW FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARDS THE
RECONCILIATION AND IMMEDIATE PAYMENT OF ALL OVERDUE DEBTS OWED BY THE
NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO HER FOREIGN INVESTORS; BE OFFICIALLY INFORMED THAT WE
HAVE VERIFIED YOUR PAYMENT FILE AND HAVE CONSEQUENTLY FIND OUT
THAT WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR OVERDUE INHERITANCE PAYMENT IS BECAUSE
YOU ARE DEALING WITH IMPOSTERS IN VARIOUS COMMERCIAL BANKS IN
NIGERIA,HEREBY BEING FRUSTATED BY SEVERAL EXTORTION OF ILLEGITIMATE FEES AND
CHARGES.

SECONDLY, WE HAVE BEEN DULY INFORMED BY THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE THAT
YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES ARE CONIVING WITH THESE FAKE BANK
OFFICIALS TO CHANGE YOUR ACCOUNT AND TRANSFER YOUR PAYMENT TO A STRANGE
ACCOUNT IN CANADA. THE NEW BENEFICIARY IS PURPORTED TO BE YOUR COUSIN.
HIS DETAILS ARE LISTED BELOW:

MR. ANDREW FRANCIS SVENKESON
ADD: 425 VELDE STREET,
CREVE CEOUR, IL 61610
NATIONALITY: AMERICAN
ZIP: 61610
AGE: 54YRS
MARITAL STATUS: DIVORCED.
PROFESSION: RETIRED REALTOR BROKER.
BANK DETAILS:
SCOTIA BANK
314 HARWOOD AVE. S UNIT
HPO5 AJAX, ONT. L1S 2JI,
CANADA.
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 321020072923
AACCOUNT NAME: ANDREW FRANCIS SVENKESON

PLEASE YOU ARE ADVISED TO RECONFIRM THE BELOW INFORMATION PROMPTLY, AND
CLARIFY TO US THAT YOU HAVE AUTHORIZED THE ABOVE SAID PERSON TO CLAIM
YOUR FUNDS, AND YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE A POWER OF ATTORNEY TO US TO RELEASE
THIS PAYMENT TO HIM THROUGH OUR PAYING BANK(CENTRAL BANK OF
NIGERIA).

THE SERIOUSNESS OF CORRUPTION AMONGST THE OFFICIALS OF MOST COMMERCIAL BANKS
IN NIGERIA IS AT ITS CLIMAX, HENCE THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL
REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ALHAJI UMARU YARA'DUA (GCFR) IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE
DELEGATED OFFICIALS OF THE UNITED NATIONS HAS MANDATED THE NIGERIA
APEX BANK "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA" TO PAY A PART PAYMENT OF US$6.5MILLION
IN FAVOUR OF FILE#: CBN/ATM/CBX/021/07, FROM YOUR OVERDUE
OUTSTANDING FUNDS.

THE CBN WILL SEND YOU ATM DIGITAL CARD WHICH YOU WILL USE TO WITHDRAW YOUR
MONEY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, WITH MAXIMUM
WITHDRAWAL OF $1,500 DAILY. SO IF YOU WILL LIKE TO RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS VIA
THIS CONVENIENT AND SECURED WAY,YOU ARE ADVICE TO GET BACK TO US ON
THIS MATTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE,BECAUSE WITHOUT YOUR CLARIFICATION THIS
PAYMENT WILL NOT BE RELEASED TO THE ABOVE BENEFICIARY CLAIMING THIS
FUND ON YOUR NAME.


HOWEVER, WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY IN RE-ORGANIZING THESE SYSTEMS, AND
EQUALLY THE INCONVENIENCES THIS DELAY MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOU AND YOUR
COMPANY IN THE VERY RECENT TIMES BEFORE THIS MATTER CAME UP,OUR VISION IS TO
ENCOURAGE FOREIGN INVESTORS BY CREATING SUITABLE AND ENABLING
ENVIROMENT FOR INVESTMENT WITHIN THE SHORES OF AFRICA GENERALLY.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, IF THIS CLAIM IS NOT APPROVED BY YOU,DO COMPLETE AND SEND
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO CONFIRM AND UPDATE TO THIS OFFICE
THAT YOU DID NOT PERMITTED THE SAID BENEFICIARY TO CLAIM THIS FUNDS AND THE
BELOW INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM YOU WILL ENABLE US TO FILE YOUR
INFORMATIONS TO THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA,IN ORDER TO FACILITATE YOUR
PAYMENT VIA ATM DEBIT CARD.

1) CONFIRM YOUR FULL NAME.
2) CONFIRM YOUR CURRENT ADDRESS.
3) CONFIRM YOUR PHONE,FAX AND MOBILE PHONE NUMBERS.
4) CONFIRM YOUR PROFESSION, AGE & MARITAL STATUS.
5) CONFIRM NATIONALITY.
6) A SCAN COPY OF YOUR ID.

(THE ABOVE INFORMATIONS ARE NEEDED TO AVOID COMPLICATION AS REGARD TO
THIS PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT)

YOU ARE WARNED, IN YOUR OWN INTEREST; STOP FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY
INSTITUTION, OFFICES OR PERSONS CLAIMING TO HAVE RELEVANT TO THE
PAYMENT OF YOUR OVERDUE FUNDS OUT-SIDE THE CBN.

NOTE: TO AVOID MISAPPROPRIATION AND IMPERSONATION, YOU ARE HEREBY ADVICE TO
REACH US STRICTLY TO AVOID AN INTRA-CASES WHILE WORKING ON
YOUR PAYMENT,AND ALSO DISENGAGED FROM ANY INFORMATION YOU MIGHT RECEIVED
FROM ANY COMMERCIAL BANKS HERE IN NIGERIA REGARDING YOUR PAYMENT
ARRANGEMENT,SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE A VICTIM TO THEIR FRAUDULENT ACT.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

BEST REGARDS,

SENATOR. MARTIN OFURUM.
DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN PAYMENT BUREAU.
UNITED NATION EMISSARY.
TELEPHONE:234-80-66-224562.
EMAIL:martinofurumchambers1@live.com<EMAIL%3Amartinofurumchambers1@live.com>

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