The 419 nigerian frauds -
step by step live explanation
SUMMARY
This is the complete story about Zone-H faking
to fall in one of the infamous Nigerian 419
advanced fees frauds. The story begins with the
first mail and it ends with the last telephone
call with the fraudsters in which we agreed upon
details of our trip to Nigeria, where a limo
sent by the gangsters would wait to kidnap us
upon our arrival at the Lagos Airport. The story
includes all the fake certificates produced by
the fraudsters.
All the details below are provided by Zone-H.
DETAILS
Notes:
- ALL THE MAIL IN CAPITAL LETTERS ARE THE MAIL
THE NIGERIAN FRAUDSTERS SENT TO US
- All the mails in smallcaps are the mail we
sent back to the fraudsters
This is the first mail we received:
FIRST BANK PLC
TEL: 234-8033062755
FAX: 234-9-2721428
MY NAME IS DR.DICKSON EZE, I AM ONE OF THE
SENIOR MANAGERS IN THE FIRST BANK PLC AND I WORK
UNDER THE DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE
OPERATIONS (INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE). I AM
CONTACTING YOU PRESENTLY BECAUSE I NEED YOUR
URGENT ASSISTANCE IN A BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT
WILL BE OF IMMENSE BENEFIT TO BOTH OF US.
I NEED TO TRANSFER SOME MONEY THAT HAS LONG BEEN
DECLARED UNCLAIMED BY THE CHAIRMAN AND SOME
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF OUR BANK.
THE MONEY IS THE CLOSING BALANCE OF ONE OF OUR
BEST CUSTOMER, LATE ENGR. GEORGE BENSON. I WAS
HIS PERSONAL ACCOUNT OFFICER BEFORE HE DIED.
GEORGE BENSON WAS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN AND THE
AMOUNT INVOLVED IS $20.5M USD (TWENTY MILLION
FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
DOLLARS) HE WAS AN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTOR WHO
SUPPLY AND INSTAL EQUIPMENTS WITH A COMPANY
CALLED CREEK CONTRACTORS LIMITED.NOBODY HAS EVER
COME FORWARD TO MAKE A STATEMENT OF CLAIM
BECAUSE HE DOES NOT HAVE A NEXT OF KIN.
I HAVE DISCOVERED HOWEVER THAT THE CHAIRMAN AND
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS WANT TO CLAIM THESE MONEY
FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL USE. THOUGH, MY
COLLEAGUES AND I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS AT
LOCATING ANY PERSON OR PERSONS THAT COULD BE
REMOTEDLY RELATED TO ENGR.GEORGE BENSON, THOUGH,
WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS
AND NOBODY HAS COME FORWARD FOR THE MONEY DUE TO
THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO NEXT OF KIN.
I AM HEREBY SOLICITING FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO
PROVIDE ME WITH A PRIVATE FOREIGN ACCOUNT WHERE
THIS MONEY CAN BE DEPOSITED FOR OUR USAGE AND
ALSO
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE LESS PRIVILEDGED IN THE
WORLD. I HEREBY SUGGEST THAT PROVIDING A GOOD
ACCOUNT WILL MAKE YOU HAVE 30% FOR YOUR HELP,
10% FOR THE LESS PRIVILEDGE IN THE WORLD LIKE
CHARITY HOMES OR MOTHERLESS BABIES HOME ETC.AND
5% FOR ANY EXPENSES INCURED FROM YOUR SIDE OR MY
SIDE. THIS WILL BE BETTER THAN ALLOWING OUR
CHAIRMAN AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS TO ACQUIRE
THESE MONEY FOR THEIR PERSONAL USAGE.WE HAVE
WORKED OUT A PERFECT PLAN TO STAND YOU AS A NEXT
OF KIN TO ENGR.GEORGE BENSON AND I WILL ALSO
PROVIDE YOU WITH ALL THE INFORMATIONS YOU WILL
NEED TO ANSWER ANY SECURITY QUESTION THAT MAY
COME UP.IF YOU FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY,
EVERYTHING WILL BE COMPLETED WITHIN TWO WEEKS.
THEREFORE, CONTACT ME ON MY PRIVATE PHONE
NO.234-8033062755 OR FAX NO.234-9-2721428 OR
EMAIL:travelegg@eircom.net
THANKS FOR YOUR KIND CO-OPERATIONS,
DR.DICKSON EZE.
This is how we answered. The name Marq Bellini
is totally invented (it happens that I have a
Marq friend down to
www.securitynewsportal.com)
Hi there, I might be interested in the deal.
Can you be a little more precise explaining me
the details ?
Regards
Marq Bellini
Here's their reply:
DEAR SIR,
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPLY TO MY EMAIL. WE ARE
ABOUT THREE OFFICIALS INVOLVED IN THIS
TRANSACTION AND WE ARE MEN OF GREAT HONOUR IN
OUR VARIOUS
FIELDS. BEFORE CONTACTING YOU, WE HAVE ALREADY
SET ASIDE SUBTAINTIAL AMOUNT WHICH WE BELEIVED
WILL BE OKAY TO CONCLUDE THIS NOBLE TRANSACTION.
ALL WE NEED FROM YOU IS HONESTY AND
CONFIDENTIALITY TO JOINTLY ACTUALISE THE
PROJECT.
HOWEVER,IT IS IMPORTANT YOU SEND DOWN YOUR BANK
PARTICULARS,COMPANY'S NAME PHONE AND FAX NUMBER
TO ENABLE US PROCESS THE RELEASE OF THE FUNDS
INTO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT.YOU CAN AS WELL CALL
ON MY MOBILE NO.234-8033062755 FOR MORE
DISCUSSIONS
IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU DID NOT UNDERSTAND OR
YOU CAN AS WELL SEND US THE NEEDED INFORMATIONS
THROUGH OUR FAX NO.234-9-2721428.YOU CAN BE
REACHING ME ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR
SECURITY REASONS.THE ADDRESS IS
oboms2001@yahoo.com
HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU TODAY.
REGARDS,
DICKSON EZE.
As you saw, they asked for my data and bank
details. We invented a totally fake bank
account, fake address etc. , knowing that the
fraudsters would have never checked it We also
invented a Rome (Italy) address and we purchased
a brand new GSM rechargeable card to allow them
to call us in total anonymity.
Hello there.
Sorry for the delay but I couldn't reach the
internet for the last week or so.
I am still interested in the deal so here are my
data:
Name: Marq Bellini
Address Circo Massimo 34 - Rome - Italy
Bank: Banca popolare di Lodi, agency 29 Roma
Bank account 400882-380001/1
Phone contact : +39 348 8861XXX (the last three
numbers are covered cause
I am still using that number?)
Before proceeding, I'd like to know more details
about the deal as you didn't expalin to me.
I'd like to know how did you get my mail
contact.
Regards
Marq
After this mail, we let them wait one week or
so, just to get them anxious
From:
To: "Sir Lancelot / H.M. Zone-H messaging
servant"
Subject: URGENT.
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 19:11:36 +0000
DEAR SIR,
I HAVE WAITED TO HEAR FROM YOU TO NO AVAIL.I
WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE
STILL INTERESTED BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE TO WASTE
TIME AS OUR AIM IS FOR THIS MONEY TO BE RELEASED
TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN TWO WEEKS.
PLEASE,IF YOU STILL INTERESTED,SEND DOWN THE
NEEDED INFORMATIONS ASAP INORDER FOR US TO
PROCESS THE RELEASE OF THE FUNDS INTO YOUR
NOMINATED ACCOUNT.
REGARDS,
MARTINS. (who is Martins? One of the three
guys?!?)
After this mail, they called me and they told me
: (resume)
- May God bless you
- We are like brother in this deal, and God
wanted us to meet
- Keep this deal secret, don't even tell it to
your wife
- Follow exactly our instructions and you will
get your share of money
- We need a fax number to fax you some
documents, ACT NOW! (they screamed it to me)
- You cannot cash the money as private person,
you must provide us a legal entity. What's your
company' name?
Oh oh we are in trouble! They want a fax number
what shall we do? We couldn't give them a real
fax number so we subscribed one of the many Free
Internet Fax Receiving services. The one we
choose allowed also to use an Italian city
prefix, so we choose Rome (06) to make our fake
as real as possible.
Moreover we had another problem: our mailbox was
zoneh_org@hotmail.com so we had somehow to
justify this name. So we invented a Bellini Zone
Hotels company. This would justify the usage of
Bellini name in conjunction with Zone-H spare
mailbox. So we mailed them:
Hi, as requested by you here is my fax number:
+39 06233230995
the details of my company:
Bellini Zone Hotels spa
via Prenestina 16, 10100 Roma (Italy)
waiting for your answers
Best regards
Marq Bellini
They answered:
DEAR SIR,
I THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATIONS YOU SENT.I HAVE
SUBMITTED THE APPLICATION AND I HOPE IT WILL BE
OUT TOMORROW.SO ONCE EVERYTHING IS OKAY
TOMORROW,I WILL SEND THEM TO YOU FOR YOUR
PERUSAL.
AGAIN,I WILL LIKE US TO BE COMMUNICATING
HENSEFORTH THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL
ADDRESS:oboms2001@yahoo.com
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
REGARDS,
DICKSON.
Note that every time we make a step ahead in the
transaction, they will tell us to change email
address or telephone numbers. This is because
they sent so many scam letters around the world
AND THEY ACTUALLY RECEIVE A LOT OF ANSWERS so
they have the problem to manage all those mails.
To solve the problem they use different mails
and phone numbers for each step of the fraud so
that if you call them on a certain phone instead
than another one it will mean for them that you
already are at step X of the fraud scheme,
helping them to better manage the large amount
of involved victims
Wow! What a surprise, things are getting serious
now! I received the first set of documents from
Nigerians. Please note that it appears they
opened a company named Bellini Zone Hotels Llc.
This is because they told us we need a local
legal entity to cash legally that money. Also,
note that the certificate appears backdated to
1991 so to have a legal entity that appears
being working with Nigeria since a long time.
Please pay also attention to the fact that all
the fees and stamp duties on the certificates
are expressed in US Dollars, while the official
currency in Nigeria is the NAIRA. Nigeria must
be more expensive that Dubai! In fact the fees
to open a company appear to be 25.500 USD !!!
Now this is nice: because we finally have a
Bellini Zone Hotels legal Nigerian entity, we
will be able to be recognized by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (the company
fraudsters said they will use to transfer the
money from) as one of their accredited
contractor. This will allow NNPN to release us
an official payment for the promised 20.5
Million USD
After receiving those faxes, we mailed them:
Hi I got your faxes. What to do now?
Marq Bellini
Here's their answer:
DEAR MARQ,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR MAILS.THE NEXT STEP NOW IS TO
WAIT TO HEAR FROM THE FINANCE MINISTRY.WHATEVER
HAPPENS,I PROMISED I WILL COMMUNICATE YOU
BECAUSE WE BOTH ARE IN THE BUSINESS.I WILL ALSO
LIKE YOU TO BE CALLING ME ON DAILY BASIS SO THAT
I WILL BE GIVING YOU THE DETAILS OF THE WHOLE
TRANSACTION.MY MOBILE IS 234-8033062755.
REGARDS.
So we called them. They told us that we would
receive a phone call from the Ministry of
Finance' lawyer.
And it happened. A new SERIOUS voice called us
asking for our credential.
He asked us to take a copy of the documents they
previously sent us by fax and asked me about
reference numbers etc, this to play like if he
was really concerned about my ID.
After having verified by phone that I was the
real Mr. Bellini, he told me to wait a fax of
confirmation from the Ministry of Finance.
Which arrived:
Please note that in the fax is stated: NOTE THAT
INCOME TAX CERIFICATE OF YOUR COMPANY IS NOT IN
YOUR FILE. DO SEND IT DIRECTLY TO CENTRAL BANK
OF NIGERIA.
We believe this will be a phrase they will use
to steal from us some MORE money in case, later
on we would have flown down to Nigeria to cash
our money, like asking some extra bribes to let
our income tax certificate appear like magic in
the file of Central Bank of Nigeria (which has
nothing to share with this fraud, look at their
official page statement:
http://www.cenbank.org/419effort.htm ).
After a few days we received this fax from the
Central Bank of Nigeria, stating the approval of
the payment execution on our bank account. NOTE
THAT CENTRAL BANK SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY POWER TO
RELEASE APPROVAL FOR SUCH PAYMENTS
Note also the amount of APPROVED stamps it gave
us a good 30 minutes laugh!
After this fax, Mr. Musa Danjuma the lawyer of
the Central Bank of Nigeria (a fake one, of
course) called me urging me to proceed with the
payment of the due fees in order to release our
20.5 M USD. He gave me two possibilities :
1) to pay 16.500 via Western Union to their
legal office so that the lawyer would act on our
behalf to release the money
2) to come to Nigeria personally to endorse
the money, this procedure would cost only 6.500
USD
The fees I had to pay are the one stated in this
fax:
So we mailed them
I received your fax which talks about the legal
fees are necessary to be paid in order to
proceed with the 20,5 M endorsement (16.500 USD).
My question is: would it be possible to withdraw
that money from the total sum?
It doesn't really make any sense to me to pay
money in order to receive money.
Moreover, I don't trust this kind of online
transaction between people they don't know each
other. Can you please suggest an alternative
solution that would ease out the process? Maybe
I could come there by the end of next week as I
am coming anyway to visit our hotels in Kenya
with corporate airplane, it wouldn't take so
much to jump to Nigeria as well.
Marq Bellini
And they answered?
DEAR BELLINI,
MUCH THANKS FOR OUR PHONE DISCUSSIONS
TODAY.INSHORT,I MET WITH THE GOVERNOR OF CENTRAL
BANK OF NIGERIA TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO BE DONE
NEXT TO REMIT THE $20.5M USD INTO YOUR ACCOUNT
SINCE THE WHOLE MONEY HAS BEEN APPROVED.
HE TOLD ME THAT YOU CAN CLEAR THE MONEY INTO
YOUR ACCOUNT BY USING THE LAWYER OF THE BANK OR
YOU CAN ALSO COME DOWN PERSONALLY AND DO ALL THE
ENDORSEMENTS.I SHALL PROVIDE YOU WITH ESCORT
THAT WILL PICK YOU FROM THE AIRPORT TO ANY HOTEL
OF YOUR CHOICE.I HAVE TOLD YOU THAT I AM A MAN
OF HONESTY,HIGH INTERGRITY AND HONOUR AND YOUR
COMMING TO MY COUNTRY WILL ALSO GIVE YOU THE
OPENINGS INTO MANY BUSINESS CLIMATE IN THE OIL
INDUSTRY.
I AM IN THE OIL FIELD AND YOU WILL ALSO MEET
WITH SOME IMPORTANT OFFICIALS AND THIS WILL PAVE
THE WAY FOR MORE BUSINESS BETWEEN US.I HAVE
ASSURED YOU
THAT $20.5M USD IS JUST A TIP OF ICEBERG ONCE
YOU ARE HONEST WITH ME AS I WILL BE 100% HONEST
WITH YOU.IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO BE VERY
CONFIDENTIAL BY NOT DISCLOSING THE TRUE NATURE
OF THIS OUR NOBLE TRANSACTION TO ANYBODY EITHER
IN YOUR COUNTRY OR MINE.I HAVE DONE A PERFECT
HOME WORK AS REGARD TO THIS OUR TRANSACTION AND
I PROMISE YOU THAT THE SKY IS OUR LIMIT.
THE GOVERNOR TOLD ME THAT YOU MUST COME DOWN
WITH THE STAMP DUTY AND AFFIDAVIT FEES IN CASH
SINCE THIS IS BEEN PAID TO THE HIGH COURT AND IT
IS ONLY $6500 USD.YOU WILL ALSO NEED A CLEARANCE
TO LAND YOUR PLANE IN CASE YOU ARE
COMMING WITH A PRIVATE PLANE.THIS I BELEIVE YOU
CAN DO YOURSELF BUT DO NOT TELL ANYBODY YOUR
TRUE MISSION.JUST SAY YOU WANT TO EXPLORE
NIGERIA AS AN HOTELIST AND A TOURIST TO EXAMINE
HOW YOU CAN INVEST OR DO BUSINESS HERE IN
NIGERIA.LET THE SECRET OF THIS BUSINESS BE KNOWN
TO YOU AND ME ALONE AND I ASSURE YOU THAT WE
WILL CLEAR MORE MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AFTER
THE REMITTANCE OF THIS $20.5M USD.
I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO WELCOMMING YOU IN MY
COUNTRY NEXT WEEK.SEND ME ALL YOUR ARRIVAL
DETAILS TO ENABLE ME GIVE YOU A PERFECT
ARRANGEMENT HERE.YOU MAY SPEND ONLY THREE DAYS
TO CONCLUDE THE TRANSACTION.IT SHOULD NOT BE
WEEKEND BUT WORKING DAYS.
THANKS,
SINCERELY YOURS,
MARTINS EBERE.
DEAR MARQ,
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR MAIL TO ME TODAY IN RESPECT
OF YOUR CONTRACT PAYMENT IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF
NIGERIA.IT IS PERTINENT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT IF
YOU CAN COME TO NIGERIA YOURSELF FOR THE
ENDORSEMENT THE BETTER BECAUSE IT WILL COST YOU
JUST $6500 USD NON NEGOTIABLE FEES FOR STAMP
DUTY AND AFFIDAVIT.
I WILL ADVISE HOWEVER THAT YOU SHOULD TRY AND
COME DOWN PROBABLY BY NEXT WEEK AS YOU RIGHTLY
PROPOSED BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ARE
PAYING FOREIGN CONTRACTORS RAPIDLY NOW DUE TO
THE ON COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND ANY
CONTRACTOR WHO FAIL TO RECEIVE HIS CONTRACT SUM
NOW WILL FIND IT DIFFICULT AFTER ELECTION.
PLEASE,TRY AND GIVE ME A CALL IMMEDIATELY YOU
ARRIVE MY COUNTRY SO THAT I WILL BE AWARE YOU
ARE ARROUND IN CASE YOU MAY STILL NEED MY
ASSISTANCE.MY MOBILE NO.IS 234-8033260176.
REGARDS,
DR.MUSA DANJUMA(SAN)
--
Note that they want me down to Nigeria. The
Central Bank lawyer is also giving me his mobile
phone.
So I decided to tell them by phone that giving
the fact that my hotel chain had already one
hotel in Kenya and I would be visiting that
hotel a week after, I could have taken my
private corporate plane and jump down to
Nigeria, after all it's only 1 hour flight
They also told me to bring some cash to pay the
fees.
DEAR MARQ,
I THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION TO JOINTLY
ACTUALISE THIS OUR NOBLE PROJECT.PLEASE,I WILL
LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU TO KNOW EXACTLY WHEN YOU
WILL BE COMING SO AS TO MAKE SOLID ARRANGEMENT
IN WELCOMING YOU.TRY AND CALL ME ON PHONE
TODAY.EVERYTHING IS IN ORDER SO MAKE SURE YOU
SEND ME YOUR ARRIVAL SCHEDULE.
REGARDS,
MARTINS.
We decided to play around a little with them, so
I didn't call them for around 10 days
DEAR MARQ,
I WROTE YOU YESTERDAY BUT I DID NOT HEAR FROM
YOU.I ALSO CALLED YOU TODAY BUT YOU PHONE WAS IN
ANSWERING MACHINE.PLEASE,TRY AND CALL ME AS SOON
AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE FOR ME TO KNOW WHEN
YOU ARE COMING INORDER TO PICK YOU UP IN THE
AIRPORT.MY MOBILE NO. IS 234-8033062755.ALSO
SEND ME EMAIL ABOUT YOUR SCHEDULE INORDER TO
PREPAIR WELL FOR YOU.
WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU TODAY.
REGARDS,
MARTINS.
Then finally I wrote them
Hi, sorry for the delay but I have had health
problems and I got hospitalized for a week or
so. But now I am back and fortunately feeling
well. My trip for Nigeria is planned this week.
I should arrive Thursday, departure on Sunday. I
will communicate the private plane flight code
as soon as the pilots will file the flight plan
to Lagos control tower. Visa is already
arranged, maybe you can suggest me a nice Hotel
accommodation.
Marq.
After other phone calls we finally settled an
arrangement:
Hello,
I have finally the copy of the flight plan filed
by my pilots. I will be landing at Lagos Airport
approximately at 09.15 AM on Thursday 6th March
2003 and I will depart Sunday afternoon. The
code of my flight will be acx2002 (I don't know
if you need it) and I will fly with American
tail N69326. I would like to know the schedule
of our meetings as I would like to organize my
free time otherwise. I also would like to know
if you can deliver the limo directly to the
airplane parking lot or if I should eventually
manage myself the Custom Border immigration
procedures. I have never been to Nigeria so I am
not aware about the private flight
custom-immigration rules there
Marq
Note that at this point the scam becomes
dangerous. In fact, if we agreed to pay the
16.500 USD fees by money transfer, we just lost
our money and that was it. But given the fact
that we decided not to transfer the money but to
rather go to Nigeria to cash the big payment by
our self, we put our life in a situation of
extreme danger. In fact the fraud scheme might
conclude (as it already happened) with the
kidnapping of the victim once arrived in
Nigeria. Some of them have been freed after
having paid a ransom, some other have been
killed.
Of course, they are still waiting us with the
limo down at Lagos Airport landing path?
