419 scam: "OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR CBN"<cenbank@ng.com> Confidential Notification

joewein.net

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "dr. sanusi" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lamido aminu sanusi" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "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.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348035223057 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR CBN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <josephajibola@live.com>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:09:14 +0100
Subject: Confidential Notification

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR,

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA, (C.B.N)

38 BROAD STREET, TINUBU SQUARE.

PHONE: +234 803 522 3057.

ATTN: BENEFICIARY/CONTRACTOR/AWARD WINNER

YOUR PARTICULARS WAS MENTIONED IN OUR JUST CONCLUDED SECOND-QUARTER DEBT SETTLEMENT GENERAL MEETING. A PART PAYMENT OF $750,000 (SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) WAS APPROVED ON YOUR NAME. THIS PAYMENT WILL BE PROGRAMMED INTO AN AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE (ATM CARD) POWERED BY MASTERCARD AND WILL BE MAILED TO YOUR ADDRESS BY COURIER SERVICE.

YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY REQUIRED TO RE-CONFIRM AND FORWARD TO MY DESK THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION'S:

1.    YOUR REQUIRED NAME TO BE PRINTED ON YOUR ATM CARD:

2.    YOUR PRESENT RESIDENT MAILING ADDRESS (NOT P.O BOX):

3.    YOUR PERSONAL AND REACHABLE PHONE NUMBERS:

WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCIES THE DELAY OF YOUR PAYMENT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOU.

YOURS SINCERELY,

DR. SANUSI LAMIDO AMINU SANUSI

GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (C.B.N)

PHONE: +234 803 522 3057.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam