419 scam: "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA" <centralbankplc3440@yahoo.it> URGENT ATTENTION

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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:
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- "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.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
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.
- +2348083849417 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA" <centralbankplc3440@yahoo.it>
Reply-To: centralbankplc33@yahoo.it
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:45:31 +0100
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION

Attn,

Our Ref: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/08

Sir/ Madam,

RE:ENQUIRER ON CONTRACT PAYMENT

Complements of the season.

I am directed by the Director of International Remittance (DIR) Central
Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) to make this urgent enquirer regarding your payment.
This is sequel to a letter and other documents received from an Indian
Company claiming to be a subsidiary of your Company and applying for your
contract sum to be paid into a new Bank Account.

This enquirer became necessary because two gentlemen, one Indian and a
Nigerian visited the Bank and filed application to change the original
account to HongKong & Shangai Banking Corporation.They succeeded in
effecting the change by conniving with some officials who they offered
large sum of money and also paid the statutory charges. Unknown to the CBN
Governor, the transfer was endorsed by him and minuted to the Director of
International Remittance to effect the transfer of the money.

Fortunately, that department spotted certain irregularities in the payment
instruction and forwarded the file to us for vetting. We have discovered
in the course of our investigation that the application for the change of
account was not accompanied with a formal letter of authority from your
Company nor a power of attorney to that effect as it is officially
required. This necessitated our suspending further action in the payment
pending your confirmation.

We have also discovered that attempts were made by these men with
extra-ordinary flay to bribe officials of the department to ignore or
overlook the inaccurate documentation and effect quick transfer of the
money. We invited the two gentlemen for a discussion and they alleged that
they were your representative. But when asked to produce a letter of
authority signed by you, they promised to produce it, they left and have
not returned since then. We are however expecting them but we decided to
contact you directly for confirmation.

If in fact they are your representatives kindly confirm same via email and
send the required letter of authority. We shall be in a position to
ascertain the payment and cause the remittance to be effected immediately
upon the receipt of this confirmation.

NOTE: Your confirmation should reach this office within 7 banking days
from the receipt of this message otherwise, it will be presumed that the
change has received your consent.

Regards
Mr.Martins Dike.
Director of International Remittance.
Tel:+234-808-384-9417

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam