419 scam: "Mellisa Lawson"<mellisalawson@cenbank.org> Re: I want to connect with you!

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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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mellisa Lawson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mellisalawson@googlemail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 2009 13:21:50 +0700
Subject: Re: I want to connect with you!

Hello Sir,

I am Miss Mellisa Lawson a computer scientist with central bank of Nigeria. I am 26 years old, just started work with C.B.N. I came
across a file which was marked X and a released disk painted RED, I took time to study it and found out that the beneficiary have paid
VIRTUALLY all fees and certificate but the fund has not been released. The most annoying thing is that they cannot tell the truth that on no
account will they ever release the fund to anyone; instead they let you spend money unnecessarily.

I do not intend to work here all the days of my life, I can release this fund to you if you can certify me of my security, and how I can
run away from this Nigeria if I do this, because, if I don't run away from this country after i made the transfer, I will be seriously in
trouble and my life will be in danger. Please you may not understand it because you are not a Nigerian. The
only thing I will need to release this fund is a special HARD DISK we call it HD120 GIG. I will buy two of it, recopy the your information,
destroy the previous one, and punch the computer to reflect in your bank within 24 banking hours. I will clean up the tracer and destroy
your file, after which I will run away from Nigeria to meet with you.

If you are interested, and prepared to keep this transaction top secret and confidential, Do get in touch with me immediately.

You should send to me your convenient tell/fax numbers for easy communications and also re confirm your banking details, so that there
won't be any mistake.

Regards,

Miss Mellisa Lawson
Computer Scientist

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam