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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Collins C. Chikeluba" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <edymail@katamail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2015 03:58:17 +0100
Subject: Your Payment Status

C.B.N Foreign Debt Reconciliation Panel
Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way
Central Business District,
Cadastral Zone,
Abuja, FCT- Nigeria.
Tel: +234 806 2170683.
 
Strictly for the attention of the recepient,
 
My name is Mr. Collins C. Chikeluba, chairman (C.B.N Foreign Debt Reconciliation Panel), I know you must be surprised to receive this message from me, but I chose to tell you the truth because of my sincere wish to treat every man, as I would expect to be treated.
 
I was appointed by the newly elected president to head this committee in investigating approved foreign payments in C.B.N of which your payment file was among. After thorough investigation, I discovered that it would take a long process for your payment to be released due to some irregularities detected in your file. During our verification, we found out that you have spent so much money in trying to realize your payment both in UK, Ghana, South Africa and even in Nigeria, which does not have a positive impact on your payment file. Most of the people you are dealing with are only extorting monies from you.
 
But I have an offer for you, which will at least help your financial status until the irregularities in your payment file are rectified and you receive your approved payment. This offer is an amount from federal government diplomatic compensation program. It is a total sum of us$10,500,000. (Ten million, five hundred thousand United States dollars only), which will be shared between you and I in the ratio of 50%-50%.
 
This amount is not from your payment, rather it is an over invoiced contract amount awarded to some foreign firms by the C.B.N of which the contract has been fully executed and paid for leaving only the over-invoiced amount. I am offering you this because of your earnest desire to received your payment and the huge lose you have encountered in the hands of some unscrupulous elements and considering that your fund will not be released on time until all the anomalies are corrected.
 
The below requirements are needed for this US$10.5 million to be transferred into your account within 72 hours;
 
A BANK ACCOUNT, WHICH MUST BE NORMALIZED  IN A FEDERAL HIGH COURT TO ENABLE THE RE-ASSIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF THE $10.5 MILLION WITHOUT ANY SUSPICION.
 
A RE-ASSIGNMENT FEE OF $165 WHICH IS REQUIRED FOR THE ISSUANCE OF ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN YOUR FAVOUR.
 
For your information, this is not a contract payment. Therefore there will be no bureaucracy or misfortune. All necessary documents will be issued after the normalization process is completed and same will be forwarded to you.
 
If you are willing to make this deal with me, I urge you to contact me immediately, with the requirements. I want to re-assure you that this transaction will be conducted legitimately without violating any financial law(s). I am writing you from this email address due to fear of betrayal but I urge you to direct all future communications to my official email address. I will send you my official identification in my next mail.
 
Yours truly,
 
Mr. Collins C. Chikeluba
 

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