419 scam: "Engr. Godswill Uchendu"<karenm0318@aol.com> REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states 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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Engr. Godswill Uchendu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <godswiluchendu@mail.ru>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:37:36 -0800
Subject: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

FROM THE DESK OF ENGR. KOJO WILLIAM
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/FINANCIAL CONTROLLER
NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION(NNPC)
FALOMO OFFICE ANNEX LAGOS NIGERIA
WEBSIDE:WWW.NNPCGROUP.COM

Attn; Dear Sir/Madam,

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

I am the financial controller of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). I got your Contact address from International Business Consultants in Nigerian Export Promotion Council. I and my colleagues were officials in charge of off-shore remittance in this Corporation (NNPC). We are seeking your assistance to transfer the sum of Forty Two Million United States Dollars (US$42,000,000.00) to your account for further private investment.

This amount accrued from an over-invoiced contract amount for the construction of an Oil Refinery Sub- stations in Nigeria in the year 2000 to an expatriate companies. The contract was originally valued for One Hundred and Twenty Seven Million United States Dollars US$127,000,000.00),but we manipulated the figure to read One Hundred and Sixty Nine Million United States Dollars($169,000,000.00) The extra $42,000,000.00 is what we want to transfer to your account.

This contract has been completely executed and the original contractors have been paid all their contract bills less this US$42,000,000.00. For your assistance, we have agreed to remunerate you with 25% because it is not possible for us to claim the amount here in Nigeria without foreign partner. 10% has been mapped out for any miscellaneous expenses incurred by either party during this processing of the transfer of the fund into your designated bank account,while 65% is for my colleagues and myself.

It may interest you to know that for years ago, a similar transaction was carried out with one Mr. Patrice Miller, the President of Craine International Trading Corporation at number 135 East 57th Street, 28th floor,New York.10022 with Tel: 714-686-7532 and TLX number 6731689. Mr. Patrice disappeared into thin air when he received the money and uptil now we could not locate him. His Telephone and Telex numbers had been reallocated to other users by the time we arrived New York, United States for our share. This explains exactly why we will make a concrete agreement between you and us, should you be willing to assist in this deal.

All modalities to effect the payment and subsequent transfer of this money have been worked out. This transaction is 100% risk free, but requires 100 percent confidentiality. This is a golden opportunity which must not be allowed to slip out of any careless acts and utterances. We chose you for this transaction because we believe that good friends can be discovered and businesses such as this cannot be realized without trust. You can be rest assured that your security has been considered before you were contacted you.

I await your urgent response.

Yours Faithfully,

Engr. Godswill Uchendu

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam