419 scam: "Nelson Maketa"<nelsonm19691968@yahoo.com.ph> 3.Confidential (27.04.2013)

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge sum of money" (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.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- nelsonm19691967@yahoo.com.ph (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Nelson Maketa" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nelsonm19691967@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2013 02:54:38 -0400
Subject: 3.Confidential (27.04.2013)

From: Nelson Maketa

Private Bag X59 Pretoria , 0001

Trevenna Campus,

Meintjes and Schoeman Streets,

Sunnyside, PRETORIA

Republic of South Africa

E-Mail: nelsonm19691967@yahoo.com.ph

Dear Friend,

I know this mail will come to you as a surprise; I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail private as I contact you independently and NOT on behalf of my ministry.

I am a senior staff at the Ministry of Mineral Resources Republic of South Africa; also a member of Tender Board Committee. I am currently in need of a foreign partner whose identity can be used to transfer some huge sum of money out my country for overseas investment. This fund emanated from an over-invoiced contract payment which was awarded to a foreign contractor in the year 2010 under my supervision.

With your consent I am proposing to present you as a partner to the contractor who executed the said contract, so that you will make official application to my Ministry to claim the outstanding over invoiced amount. I will guide and direct you on every step required to achieve this objective.

If you are familiar with government tenders on contract awards, you will understand what I am talking about regarding the over-invoiced contract payment. If this money is not claimed it will be re-assigned to the state treasury and nobody benefits from this.

I believe this is a lifetime opportunity for us, we see so much cash and funds being re-assigned daily to state treasury when funds like this is not claimed.

I am sending you this mail not without a measure of fear as to the consequences or your interpretation, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold. Do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should act swiftly on this. Please get back to me as soon as possible if you are interested in my proposal so that we can discuss the terms and working modalities for the successful execution of this project.

You can reach me on my private email above.

Regards,

Nelson Maketa

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam