419 scam: "Independent National Electoral Commission"<mrs.sharonaza@gmail.com> Independent National Electoral Commission

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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)
- "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)
- "transaction is risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Independent National Electoral Commission" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <andyuba130@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2014 11:41:35 -0700
Subject: Independent National Electoral Commission

Dear Sir/Madam.

My name is Senator (Dr) Andy Uba, Chairman, Senate committee on INEC(Independent National Electoral Commission), I found your personal information via a distinct search through your Consulate chamber of commerce database, hence I am contacting you after satisfying my instinct that you are able and on the level to guarantee the smooth and success of this transaction.

I am writing you this letter today following an official declaration that a business consultant to INEC was involved in the recent Malaysian Airline Flight 370 that has been missing for several weeks. The consultant had an on-going project with INEC to the tune of US$355,780,000.00 for the supply of electoral equipment’s and stationery for the upcoming presidential election in Nigeria in 2015.

Owing to my position as the chairman and head of Finance for disbursement of the allocated funds for the supply of the machinery, I have documented evidence of all approved payments due for the contract from the apex bank, thus, I am making contact with you to complete the final batch of payment (US$85,350,000.00) within the next few weeks in accordance with the terms of the contract.

This transaction is risk free as you will be guided accordingly throughout the process and with the help of the Head of CBN Corporate Services Directorate, we shall have no problem in facilitating the payment process.

Kindly, write me back on receipt of this message and provide me with the best number and time to reach you to discuss this matter, thereafter, we shall proceed with other necessary discussion and arrangements for the transfer of the funds. For your participation, we shall compensate you with a reasonable percentage of the funds on completion of the transfer to you . All this we shall discuss on hearing from you.

Thank you for your interest in this opportunity and please do keep this information very confidential due to the reputation of people involved .

Yours Sincerely.

Sen. Andy Uba

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam