419 scam: "Ms Ellie Benjamin" <ellie11@onet.pl> Urgent (Please Read).

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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:
- "million united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Ms Ellie Benjamin" <ellie11@onet.pl>
Reply-To: <elliebenjamin01@yahoo.cn>
Date: Tue, 3 May 2011 10:53:01 +0800
Subject: Urgent (Please Read).

Ellie Benjamin
London, UK.

I am Ms Ellie Benjamin, I wish to seek for your assistance in a financial transaction, however, is not mandatory but i was compelled to contact you to request for assistance in claiming funds which i inherited from my parents.My parents are Dr. and Mrs. William Benjamin. My father was an expartriate in the Doha,Qatar but It is sad to say that he passed away after under going a 2 weeks medical treatment in the United Kingdom. Although his death was linked or rather suspected to have been masterminded by one of our uncles who poisoned his coffee the morning he was addmitted. My mother died when I was a little girl, and since then my father took me so special. Before his death 2 months ago, he told me about sum funds which is about Eight Million United State Dollars. ($8,000,000.00 USD) deposited with a large investment & Security Firm.

The safe was declared as Family Personal Belongings instead of the real content money,it was kept as Family belongings so that company does not know the true content of the safe as containing so much money. I have in my possession the deposit Receipt which the company gave to my late father on the day he made the deposit and a letter of authorization will be given to you as to enable you stand of my behalf and claim the safe from the security firm. I'm 24yrs old and i really don't know what to do than to seek your assistance in claiming these funds on my behalf.

I'm facing a hard time here in the United Kingdom because i didn't expect my dad to go so soon. His death has brought sorrows to my life and right now, I am in a sincere desire of your assistance in this regards. Your suggestions and ideas will be highly appreciated.

Please, read through and kindly get back to me as soon as possible.

My sincere regards,
Ms Ellie Benjamin

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam