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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: "BERNARD OTTI" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bernard_otti1@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:39:01 -0500
Subject: FOREIGN PARTNERSHIP

Dear Sir ,
 
I Am Mr. Bernard Otti, Group Executive Director(Finance and Accounts)
Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. I Headed A Seven-Man Tenders Board
In Charge Of Contract Awards And Payment Approvals. I Came To Know Of You
In My Search For A Reliable And Reputable Person To Handle A Very
confidential Transaction Which Involves The Transfer Of A Huge Sum Of Money
To A Foreign Account. There Were Series Of Contracts Executed By A
Consortium Of Multinationals In The Oil Industry In Favor Of N.N.P.C. The
Original Value Of This Contracts Were Deliberately  Over-Invoiced To The
Sum Of Usd$30,000,000.00 (Thirty Million United States Dollars)this Amount
Has Been Approved And Is Now Ready To Be Transferred, Being That The
Companies That Actually Executed These Contracts Have Been Fully Paid And
The Projects Officially Commissioned. Consequently, My Colleagues And I Are
Willing To Transfer The Total Amount To Your Account Subsequent
Disbursement, Since We, Civil Servants Are Prohibited By The Code Of
Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Law) From Operating And/Or Opening Foreign
Accounts In Our Names. Needless To Say, The Trust Reposed On You At This
Juncture Is Enormous. In Return, We Have Agreed  To Offer You 25% Of The
Transferred Sum, While 10% Shall Be Set Aside For Incidental Expenses
(Internal And External) Between Parties In The Course Of The Transaction.
You Will Be Mandated To Remit The Balance To Other Accounts In Due Course.
Modalities Have Been Worked Out At The  Highest Level Of The Ministry Of
Finance And The Central Bank Of Nigeria (C.B.N.) For The Immediate Transfer
Of The Funds Within 14 Working Days Subject To Your Satisfaction Of The
Above Stated Terms. Our Assurance Is That Your Role Is Risk Free. To Accord
This Transaction The  Legality It Deserves And For Mutual Security Of The
Funds The Whole  Approval Procedures Will Be Officially And Legally
Processed With Your Name Or The Name Of Any Company You May Nominate As The
Bonafide Beneficiary. Once More,  I Want You To Understand That Having Put
In Over Ten Years In The Civil Service Of My Country, I Am Averse To Having
My Image And Career Dented. This Matter Should Therefore Be Treated With
The Utmost Secrecy And Urgency It Deserves. Kindly Expedite Action As We
Are Behind Schedule To Enable Us Include This Transfer In This Batch Which
Would Constitute The First  Quarter Payments For The 2013 Financial Year. I
shall send you more information and procedures when I receive a positive
response from you.
 
Best Regards,
 
Mr Bernard Otti

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