Beware of 419 Scams

Originated from Nigeria, the advanced fee fraud scams are commonly called 419 from the Nigerian Law article number supposed to deal with them.

Today and with internet facilities, everybody having an e-mail address is receiving some of those juicy looking proposals and not only from Nigeria. Moreover, the scammers, runned by the competition among themselves, are always finding new tricky ideas.

During 7 years of activity in Lagos, Nigeria, We have advised a lot of 419 Scams -victims-. We never saw one of them recovering their money.

Meanwhile, always remember that the main victims of those scammers are the genuine hard working Nigerian businessmen.

And also that Father Christmas / Santa Claus / Père Noêl is not supposed to be based in Nigeria

International Companies willing to do business with Nigeria and Africa should directly proceed to our home page to consult the business services we offer.

Some of the ways the fraudsters are using to find a Mugu (a greedy idiot) are:

Oil Jobs:
They pretend to be a recruitment agent for a major international oil & gas company operating in Nigeria and state that you have to pay "filing fees" for your application, visa, etc. They ask you to send this money (usually between $ 200.00 and $ 2,000.00) through Western Union money transfert. The job never existed, and your money not anymore ...

Urgent Business Relationship:
I have diverted some amount of money and i need some assistance to export the funds.
This is the most common Scam, using political stories of civil wars, asylum seekers, politicians, dictators, chiefs of war like Mohammed Abacha, Charles Taylor, Ibrahim Coulibaly, Gerard Guei, Zimbabwe white farmers and more lately Saddam Hussein...

Inheritance: Two ways:
1 - My friend is dead and didn´have Next to kind and I propose u to act as if you are.
2 - I am a Bank officer and in charge of a non-asked for account of a dead business man (oil industry, gold mining...)
3 - Used to loot Charity organisations: I am a lawyer and my dead client decided to give you his money (without any good reason and/or without you/him to know and/or to be known about/from your organisation).

Fake tender:
Sample of fake tender from Shell Nigeria.Note that Shell Nigeria doesn´t need to look for contractors, all the international Oil Gas companies are already in business in Nigeria.

Winning a Lottery game:
You win a lottery you didn´t play. Too good to be true.

Fake order , Fake payment:
This is mostly small orders of a few thousand dollars, to computer dealers. The order being small, the exporter send the goods in advance and get a fake cheque, most of the time a cheque on a US Bank. After trying to clear it, they discover that this is a 1 US$ cheque changed to 5,000. Fortunately for us, we don´t have sample to display.

Fake request for samples:
Never send sample goods to unknown people.

Crude Oil offer:
Crude Oil traders doesn´t need to look for customers and/or suppliers over the internet and the producing countries doesn´t need to look for customers.

Assurance Abuse:
I heard from a Lagos lawyer the story of a Nigerian who travelled to London and contracted a life Insurance for 1 Million US$. 6 months after coming back in Nigeria, the Insurance company receive a claim from his wife that he died in a car crash. He paid journalists to write newspapers articles about the said accident and provided pictures...

Washing Dollars:
The story of darkened dollars notes that you can wash with a chemical you have to purchase of course. Looks very stupid but still working. In october 2006, a TV program featured a family who paid up to Euro 35,000.00 to 419ers from Côte d´Ivoire. The story started from the orphin girl who inherited $ 12 Million, needed assistance to transfert the money and it finished with washing Dollars. All the above cases in one ...

WHAT TO DO:
Nothing as soon as you don´t answer the offer.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I HAVE PAID SOME MONEY OR SENT GOODS:
Nothing either apart crying. You can communicate the problem to your Diplomatic Mission in Nigeria and to your National Police force. You can, also contact INTERPOL. Meanwhile, Nigeria is a 120 million people country were there is no telephone directory, no Social Security Database and were everybody can use a fake name.

Never accept an invitation in a foreign country:
Some people have been robbed, kidnapped and murdered

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Some 419 Samples:

FROM THE DESK OF MR MUSTAFA ALUE,
BILLS AND EXCHANGE MANAGER,
BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A)
OUAGADOUGOU-BURKINA FASO.

Dear Friend,

I am the manager of bill and exchange at the foreign remittance department of BANK OF AFrica(B.O.A) here in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of US$25m dollars (Twenty five Million US dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer (MR. ANDREAS SCHRANNER from Munich, Germany) who died along with his entire family in Jully 2000 in a plane crash.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless some body applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidlings and laws but unfortunately we learntthat all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we don´t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill. The banking law and guidline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after fours years, the money will be transfered into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occassioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner. I agree that 30% of this money will be for you as a respect to the provision of a foriegn account , 10% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 60% would be for me Thereafter, I will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentage indicated Therefore, to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you arranged,you must apply first to the bank as relation or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where in the money will be remitted.
Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application . I will not fail to bring to your notice this transaction is hitch-free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer. You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter.
Trusting to hear from you immediately.
(please reply me with my privet email address mustafa_alue00@xxx.com)
Yours Faithfully,
MRMUSTAFA ALUE

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BRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/ PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
60 Merriman Road
Blackheath
London SE3 8RZ
England.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Ref. Number: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch Number: 12/25/0304
Ticket Number: 564 75600545-188
Serial Number: 5388/02

Attn:Winner,

                  ONLINE NOTIFICATION OF WINNING

Europe/America private international e-games organizers  and co-sponsors,BRITISH LOTTERY, officially bring to your  notice the final draw result of July-2006 BRITISH LOTTERY-wheel  E-game which was conducted at our international corporate office complex  in The United Kingdom. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 564 75600545-188 with serial number 5388/02 drew lucky numbers  7-14-18-31-45, which consequently won in the 2ND category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of USD2,500,000 (Two Million, five hundred thousand dollars).CONGRATULATIONS!

Most recently this foundation set up the NEW LOTTERY SCHEME to award prizes based on COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM.By doing this the foundation seek to encourage the use of Internet for academic and business pursuits.Its major aim is to promote music,theater,art,literature, projects in the social and political arena with a focus on health,as well as science,research, and higher education.We wish to congratulate and inform you on the selection of your email coupon number which was selected among the 45 lucky consolation prize winners.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been fully processed and your money remitted to you. This is part  of our security protocol to avoid multiple claims and unwarranted abuse of  this program by some members of the public.

All participants were selected through a  computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world. This lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate a group of multinational companies in Europe as part of their social responsibility to the citizens. This Lottery Program Jackpot is the largest ever for British Lottery. The biggest was the $363 million jackpot that went to two winners in a May 2000 drawing of The Big Game, Mega Millions´ predecessor.

Your fund is now deposited in an offshore bank with a hardcover insurance.Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, we advice that you keep this award from public notice until your claim has been processed and your
money remitted to your nominated bank account as this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this program by the general public.

For the release of your winning, kindly contact your claims supervisory officer at the The National Lottery Head Quarters via bellow informations:

Mr.Bolton Elliot
Foreign Services Manager,
Payment and Release Order Dept.
Phone: +447024070891
E-mail:agentbolton06@xxx.com

Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform your Claims agent as soon as possible.you are to fill the form below and send it to the claims agent via email:

First name:...............................................
Middle name:..............................................
Last name:................................................
Date of birth:............................................
Gender:..................................................
Marital status:..........................................
Lotto Batch Number:......................................
Lotto Reference Numbers:.................................

Home address and phone:.................................
Address:.................................................
City:....................................................

Occupation..........................................
State/province:..........................................
Zip/postal code:.........................................
Country:.................................................

Congratulations once again from all members of our staff and thanks for being part of our promotions program.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Anthony Campbell,
Executive (International Sweepstakes).

Program Warning!!! Fraudulent emails are circulating that appears to be impersonator using our names and addresses, but are not from the LOTTERY ONLINE PROGRAM PLEASE REPORT IMMEDIATELY TO CUSTOMER CARE/COMPLAINTS DEPT.

Note: Participants below 15 years are automatically disqualified. All e-mail transmission/correspondence are 100% protected by our Secured Socket Layer (SSL) server.

The NLS is an institution under public law. Therefore, the lottery contract is concluded between the lottery participant and the public law institution LOTTERY ONLINE PROGRAM

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DEAR PARTNER,

I AM MR.MESHARK JOHNSON, THE ACCOUNT AND ORDITING MANAGER FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT BANK OF AFRICA(BOA) OUAGA-BURKINA FASO. WITH DUE RESPECT AND REGARDS, I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU ON A BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT WILL BE VERY BENEFICIAL TO BOTH OF US AT THE END OF THE
TRANSACTION.DURING MY INVESTIGATION AND AUDITING IN MY DEPARTMENT, I CAME ACROSS A VERY HUGE SUM OF MONEY BELONGING TO A DECEASED PERSON, A FOREIGNER WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH.
THE FUND HAS BEEN DORMANT IN HIS ACCOUNT WITH THE BANK WITHOUT ANY
CLAIM OF THE FUND IN OUR CUSTODY EITHER FROM HIS FAMILY OR RELATION BEFORE OUR DISCOVERY TO THIS DEVELOPMENT.ALTHOUGH PERSONALLY, I KEPT THIS INFORMATION SECRET WITHIN MYSELF TO ENABLE THE WHOLE PLANS AND IDEA BE PROFITABLE AND SUCCESSFUL DURING THE TIME OF EXECUTION, THE AMOUNT INVOLVED IS USD$10.500,000 TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND U.S
DOLLARS.)MEANWHILE THE WHOLE ARRANGEMENT AND DIRECTIVES NEEDED TO PUT CLAIM OVER THIS FUND AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED, WILL BE FORWARD TO YOU UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE. INFORMATION WILL BE RELAYED TO YOU AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR INTEREST AND WILLINGNESS TO ASSIST ME AND ALSO BENEFIT YOUR SELF TO THIS GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THIS SITE BELLOW
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

IN FACT I COULD HAVE DONE THIS DEAL ALONE BUT BECAUSE OF MY POSITION IN THIS COUNTRY AS A CIVIL SERVANT, WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO OPERATE A FOREIGN ACCOUNT AND WOULD EVENTUALLY RAISE AN EYE BROW ON MY SIDE DURING THE TIME OF TRANSFER BECAUSE I WORK IN THIS BANK. THIS IS THE ACTUAL REASON WHY IT WILL REQUIRE A SECOND PARTY OR FELLOW WHO WILL FORWARD CLAIMS AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE BANK AND ALSO PRESENT A FOREIGN ACCOUNT WHERE HE WILL NEED THE MONEY TO BE TRANSFERRED INTO ON HIS REQUEST AS IT MAY BE, AFTER DUE VERIFICATION AND CLARIFICATION TO DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT.
I WILL NOT FAIL TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% RISK FREE, ON SMOOTH CONCLUSION OF THIS TRANSACTION, YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 40% OF THE TOTAL SUM AS GRATIFICATION, WHILE 60% WILL BE FOR ME PLEASE, YOU HAVE BEEN ADVISED TO KEEP TOP SECRET AS WE ARE STILL IN SERVICE AND INTEND TO RETIRE FROM SERVICE AFTER WE CONCLUDE THIS DEAL WITH YOU.
I WILL BE MONITORING THE WHOLE SITUATION HERE IN THE BANK UNTIL YOU
CONFIRM THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT AND ASK US TO COME DOWN TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR SUBSEQUENT SHARING OF THE FUND ACCORDING TO PERCENTAGES PREVIOUSLY INDICATED AND FURTHER INVESTMENT, EITHER IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY YOU MAY ADVICE US TO INVEST IN.ALL OTHER NECESSARY INFORMATION WILL BE SENT TO YOU WHEN I HEAR FROM YOU.I SUGGEST YOU GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE STATING YOUR WISH IN THIS DEAL.

BEST REGARD,
MESHARK JOHNSON

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MONSIEUR AKASSOU YVES JAURES
COTONOU-REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN
(AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST)
EMAIL: AKASSOU_YVES_JAURES@xxx.COM                                  
            
OBJET : COLLABORATION

                                                      BONJOUR,

PERMETTEZ-MOI DE VOUS INFORMER DE MON DESIR D´ENTREE
DANS LE RAPPORT D´AFFAIRES AVEC VOUS.
JE VOUS PRIE PAR CONSEQUENT DE PRENDRE ACTE  SANS VOUS ETONNER DU CHOIX QUE JE PORTE SUR VOTRE PERSONNE EN SAISISSANT CETTE HEUREUSE OPPORTUNITE POUR PRENDRE CONTACT DE VOUS.
JE VOUS PRIE D EMBLEE DE M EXCUSER POUR TOUS LES DESAGREMENTS QUE MON COURRIER POURRAIT VOUS CAUSER. MAIS MEME SI NOUS NE NOUS CONNAISSONS PAS PERSONNELLEMENT ET QUE NOUS NE NOUS SOMMES JAMAIS RENCONTRES, JE CROIS FERMEMENT QUE SUR LA BASE DU DROIT D ASSISTANCE HUMANITAIRE QU UNE CONFIANCE VERITABLE PEUT NAITRE DE NOTRE COMMUNICATION ET FAVORISER AINSI UN VERITABLE PARTENARIAT ENTRE VOUS ET MOI.
AUSSI C EST AVEC UN REEL PLAISIR QUE JE VOUS CONTACTE DEPUIS COTONOU LA CAPITALE ECONOMIQUE DU BENIN (AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST) OU JE VIS PRESENTEMENT.
 J AI PRIEE LONGTEMPS AVANT DE PRENDRE CETTE DECISION.
JE PENSE QUE VOUS ETES DIGNE DE LA RECOMMANDATION DE MA PRIERE DONC UNE PERSONNE HONORABLE DE CONFIANCE AVEC  QUI JE PEUX FAIRE DES AFFAIRES. AINSI JE N AI AUCUNE HESITATION A ME FIER A VOUS POUR DES AFFAIRES SIMPLES ET SINCERES.
CELA J AII CHOISI VOTRE NOM ENTRE D AUTRES NOMS .JE
PENSE QUE VOUS ETES DIGNE DE LA RECOMMANDATION DE MA PRIERE DONC UNE PERSONNE HONORABLE DE CONFIANCE A QUE JE PEUX FAIRE DES AFFAIRES AVEC VOUS. AINSI JE N AI AUCUNE HESITATION A ME FIER A VOUS POUR DES AFFAIRES SIMPLES ET SINCERES.
JE SUIS M. AKASSOU YVES JAURES LE SEUL FILS DEFUNT DE M. ET MME AKASSOU N´DABIAN MON PERE ETAIT UN NEGOCIANT DE CAFE CACAO ET EXPLOITANT D´OR A ABENGOUROU A L’EST DE LA COTE D´IVOIRE, MON PERE A ETE EMPOISONNE A LA PENURIE PAR SES ASSOCIES D AFFAIRES SUR UN DE LEURS PROMENADES EN VOYAGE D AFFAIRES.
MA MERE EST MORTE TROIS MOIS PLU TARD APRES LA MORT DE MON PERE, DES SUITE D UNE HEMORAGIE CEREBRAUX SPINAL.
 AVANT LA MORT DE MA MERE EN NOVEMBRE 2003 ELLE M´A SECRETEMENT APPELE A COTE DE SON LIT ET M A INDIQUE QU IL A LA SOMME DE TRENTE SIX MILLIONS DE DOLLARS AMERICAINS (36.000.000 USD) CONTENUS DANS DEUX (2) MALLES METALLIQUES DE DIX-HUIT MILLIONS DE DOLLARS AMERICAINS (18. 000. 000 USD) CHACUNE QUE MON PERE AVAIT EN CASH  A LA MAISON.
SUITE DONC A CETTE DOULOUREUSE SITUATION ET A LA SITUATION SOCIO- POLITIQUE QUI SEVIT DANS MON PAYS J AI PRIS LA DECISION DE M EXILER DE LA COTE D IVOIRE MON PAYS VERS LE BENIN AVEC TOUTE LA RICHESSE DE MON PERE
MAIS AVANT SA MORT ELLE M’A EGALEMENT EXPLIQUE QUE C´ETAIT EN RAISON DE CETTE RICHESSE QU IL A ETE EMPOISONNE PAR SES ASSOCIES D AFFAIRES.
AVEC L AIDE DE DIEU, J AI  PU TRANSPORTER LES MALLES CONTENANT LES FONDS DE LA COTE D IVOIRE A COTONOU AU BENIN.
ALORS, J AI FAIT CONSIGNER LES MALLES DANS UNE  SOCIETE DE SECURITE ET DE CONSIGNE ICI À COTONOU AU BENIN PAR MESURE DE PRUDENCE.
J AI PRIS LES SOINS DE DECLARER LES MALLES AU MOMENT DU DEPOT DE CELLES-CI DANS CETTE SOCIETE DE SECURITE ET DE CONSIGNE ICI À COTONOU AU BENIN COMME CONTENANT DES TRESORS DE FAMILLE.
MAINTENANT JE DESIRE TRANSFERER SUR UN COMPTE A L ETRANGER CETTE SOMME POUR DES INVESTISSEMENTS DANS DE DIFFERENTS PROJETS REMUNERATEURS DE REVENU. CECI ETANT LA STRICTE CONFIDENTIALITE DE CETTE OPERATION, M OBLIGE A FAIRE RECOURS A VOUS QUI SAUREZ MIEUX APPRECIER LA PRESENTE OPPORTUNITE DANS LA MESURE OU : JE VOUS GARANTIS 25% POUR L AIDE QUE VOUS ALLEZ M APPORTER ET 8% POUR LES DEPENSES EFFECTUEES LORS DE LA REALISATION DU PROJET SUR LA TOTALITE DES FONDS ET UNE GRANDE PARTIE DE CE QUI VA ME REVENIR APRES LE PARTAGE ENTRE VOUS ET MOI SERA DESTINEES A EFFECTUER DES INVESTISSEMENTS DANS DES ACTIVITES REMUNERATRICES DE REVENU A L ETRANGER.
 PAR MESURE DE CONFIANCE ENTRE VOUS ET MOI, JE ME PROPOSE  DE VOUS DESIGNER AUPRES DE CETTE SOCIETE DE SECURITE COMME BENEFICIAIRE DES MALLES, CE QUI VOUS DONNE LES MEMES DROITS QUE MOI SUR LESDITES MALLES CONTENANT LES FONDS ET VOUS PERMETTRA D AVOIR ACCES AU SEIN DE CETTE SOCIETE DE SECURITE LORSQUE VOUS ALLEZ VENIR ICI A COTONOU AU BENIN POUR QUE ENSEMBLE VOUS ET MOI PUISSIONS EFFECTUER LE RETRAIT DES MALLES.
JE VOUS SOUHAITE UNE BONNE COMPREHENSION ET VOUS PRIE DE PRENDRE CONTACT AVEC MOI SOIT PAR MON ADRESSE EMAIL AKASSOU_YVES_JAURES@xxx.FR POUR VOS SUGGESTIONS ET VOS PROPOSIONS.
MAIS LE PLUS IMPORTANT EST D´ABORD DE POUVOIR EFFECTUER LE RETRAIT DES MALLES POUR QUE VOUS ET MOI PUISSIONS  DISPOSER DES FONDS.
POUR LE TRANSFERT DES FONDS, NOUS NOUS RAPPROCHERONS VOUS ET MOI D UN CABINET FINANCIER ICI A COTONOU POUR SOLLICITER SON CONCOURS ET SES SERVICES.CE CABINET POURRA NOUS AIDER A TRANSFERER LES FONDS SUR VOS COMPTES.
JE VOUS PRIE DONC DE ME DIRE LE PLUS TOT POSSIBLE DU FAIT DE L AUGMENTATION JOUR APRES JOUR DES FRAIS DE CONSIGNE DESDITES MALLES, QUAND VOUS POURREZ VENIR ME RENCONTRER POUR UNE PROGRAMMATION ET LE RETRAIT DES MALLES ICI A COTONOU AU BENIN.


BIEN DE CHOSE A VOUS ET A VOTRE FAMILLE
QUE DIEU VOUS BENISSE

CORDIALEMENT

AKASSOU YVES JAURES