419 scam: "Mr.Patrick Joseph" <mrpatrick045@gmail.com> Dear Sir/Madam

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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Patrick Joseph" <mrpatrick045@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrpatrickjo8@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:09:58 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Mr.Patrick Joseph,the Foreign Operations Manager in African Development Bank Group here in Burkina Faso.Thus i humbly request your assistance to claim this fund,Thirteen Million Five Hundred United States dollars only ($13.5Million).The account holder suddenly passed away in a plane crash,left no beneficiary who would be entitled to the receipt of these fund.For this reason,i have found it expedient to transfer this fund to a trustworthy individual with capacity to act as foreign business partner.

Upon the transfer of this fund in your account,you will take 40% as your share from the total fund, 10% will be used as the expense incur during the process of the transfer to your accountand 50% will be for me.

Please if you are really sure you can handle this project,contact me immediately I am looking forward to read from you soon .

Thanks

Mr.Patrick Joseph

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam