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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: CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA <rawskull@ymail.com>
Reply-To: CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA <info.cbn@e-mail.ua>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:44:58 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA


FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA
OUR REF: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/012
PROF. SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI.

RE: IMMEDIATE CONTRACT/INHERITANCE PAYMENT
 
ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE STAFF OF THE CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA AND THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA IN COLLABORATION WITH IMF AND WORLD BANK.

WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY OF YOUR CONTRACT PAYMENT AND ALL THE
INCONVENIENCES YOU ENCOUNTERED WHILE PURSUING THIS PAYMENT. HOWEVER,
FROM THE RECORDS OF OUTSTANDING CONTRACTORS DUE FOR PAYMENT WITH THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA,

YOUR NAME AND COMPANY WAS DISCOVERED AS NEXT ON THE LIST OF THE
OUTSTANDING CONTRACTORS WHO HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED THEIR PAYMENTS.

I WISH TO INFORM YOU NOW THAT THE SQUARE PEG IS NOW IN SQUARE HOLE AND
YOUR PAYMENT IS BEING PROCESSED AND WILL BE RELEASED TO YOU AS SOON AS
YOU RESPOND TO THIS LETTER. NOTE THAT FROM THE RECORD IN MY FILE, YOUR
OUTSTANDING

CONTRACT PAYMENT IS (TEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS). KINDLY RE-CONFIRM TO ME THE FOLLOWINGS:
 
YOUR FULL NAME:......................... .......
YOUR CONTACT HOUSE ADDRESS:......................
NAME OF CITY OF RESIDENCE:.................... ...
COUNTRY:...................... ...................
DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER:....................... ..
MOBILE NUMBER:....................... ............
WORKING IDENTITY CARD/INT'L PASSPORT:............
AGE:.......................... ...................
OCCUPATION:................... ...................

AS SOON AS THE ABOVE MENTIONED DETAILS ARE RECEIVED, YOUR PAYMENT WILL
BE MADE TO YOU IMMEDIATELY, SO YOU ARE ADVICE TO CHOOSE ONE OUT OF THE
TWO LISTED METHOD OF PAYMENT  1, BANK TO BANK WIRE TRANSFER 2, VIA ATM
CARD.

YOURS SINCERELY,

Attn: Beneficiary,
 
Details of your pending contract/Inheritance payment is contained in the attached document.
Read and correspond back.
 
Regards

FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK NIGERIA
OUR REF: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/012
E-mail : info.cbn@e-mail.ua

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