419 scam: "John William"<info@truemail.co.th> Dear Friend,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- contactmail77@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "John William" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <contactmail77@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:42:13 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

This message is being sent to you for the purpose of a transaction that is worth US$48,300,000.This transaction is completely legitimate and all legal documents will be provided which will cover you and the funds during the course of this transaction.

This money originated from a joint effort from myself and the deceased my friend (depositor).I brought 60% of the total sum originally and my late friend brought the balance which the money was to be used for a project in asia.I actually got my 60% of the total sum from a loan facility.

I am contacting you because of your family name which is the same with my friends' because according to the agreement between the depositor and the bank,it is only someone that bears the same family name with the depositor that is eligible to lay claims to the funds.Since there is none available to claim the funds which My friend/client deposited in the bank,i decided to claim it on my own with a choice of my own.

I am John William by name and i am presently in Italy precisely because of this transaction.If you are interested in this transaction,i will advise you send me an email with the following details:

Full Name :
Tel Number:
Age:
Occupation :

The reason for these details to be released to me is for me to be sure i am not corresponding with the wrong person.Note that you are been contacted because of your family name and as such,i must be very sure someone else is not playing a fast one on either of us.

If you would like to discuss further about this transaction that you will be of benefit to you,email me back only on this email address :contactmail77@yahoo.com.hk

I am sending you this message from a secure military server for the sake of confidentiality.So endeavor to send me a response back only to the email address stated above.

Your response will be highly appreciated at this point because this money has been delayed for too long and i would like to finalize the transaction as soon as possible.If you are NOT INTERESTED,endeavor to delete this message and let it remain confidential.

Best Regards.
John William

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam