419 scam: "Alhaji Idris Adamu"<idrisadamu11@hotmail.com> =?UTF-8?B?W1NwYW0tTWFpbF1Db250cmFjdC9Qcm9qZWN0?=

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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:
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Alhaji Idris Adamu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <idrisadamu87@rediffmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:12:04 -0600
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?W1NwYW0tTWFpbF1Db250cmFjdC9Qcm9qZWN0?=

Hello,

It is my pleasure writing you in respect of a pending contract/project in the aviation ministry that is worth Two
hundred and sixty-nine million Dollars ($269,000,000). We intend to award the contract to a foreign firm for execution.
We are searching for a reliable foreign partner who will be used by us to establish a medium of securing the contract
to ourselves when the bidding commences in a week's time.

Note that after securing the contract in your company's name, we would then sub-contract the contract to a more
specialized company that will eventually execute the job at a far lower price of one hundred and fifty-two million Dollars
($152,000,000.00)

Please if interested in transacting this business on our behalf by being our foreign partner, then urgently send us your full
personal and company's details. As we will be very glad to discuss Compensations and other benefits that you will be given.

If this proposal is acceptable to you, then please get back to us, so that we can work out remuneration for your services as
our foreign partner. For further information and enquiries, you could write back for further details

We anticipate your earliest response in this regard.

Thanks,

Alj. Adamu Idris
Director General
Ministry of Aviation
Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam