419 scam: "Dr. Bonney Andrews" <benedictjackson96@gmail.com> For your assistance please

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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)
- ",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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "contract award committee" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Bonney Andrews" <benedictjackson96@gmail.com>
Reply-To: dr.bonneyaandrews@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 10:54:05 +0100
Subject: For your assistance please

Dear Sir/Madam

RE: For your assistance please

I am a highly positioned officer in the Petroleum Ministry of my country
and we are in charge of Contract Award Committee. We have used our position
to strike a deal with the foreign company's that executed the contract by
making the sum of (US$38,000,000.00) Thirty Eight Million U.S Dollars
through brokerage commission from the contracts we awarded to the foreign
contractors which we have kept very confidential to ourselves.

The US$38,000,000.00 is currently in the Foreign Payment Trust Account of
GNPC, we are seeking your assistance and permission to remit this amount of
money into your a/c or into any other a/c that you can nominate to us. For
us to commence the processing of this transaction, you are required to send
the followings, your full name, address and banking information including
your bank telephone, fax and swift code for wire transfer procedures.

Please send your information as soon as possible to enable us process the
payment approvals for the wire transfer.

I look forth to your immediate reply.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Bonney Andrews

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam