419 scam: Richard Thomas <directrichthomas@yahoo.com.hk> Important message from an American soldier in Iraq

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "diplomatic immunity"
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million 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)
- "can i trust you?" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "diplomatic immunity" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Richard Thomas <directrichthomas@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: thrichard1@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:38:07 +0000
Subject: Important message from an American soldier in Iraq

Important message from an American soldier in Iraq

Good day,

My name is Sgt.Richard Thomas, I am an American soldier, I am serving in
the military of the 1st Armored Division in Iraq , as you know we are
being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs. We managed to
move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family in 2003. The total
amount is US$25 Million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills, this
money has been kept somewhere outside Baghdad for sometime but with
the proposed troop reduction by president Obama, we are afraid that
the money will be discovered hence we want to move this money to you
for safe keeping
pending the completion of our assignment here. You can go to this web
link to read about events that took place then via this site:

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm we are ready to compensate
you with good percentage of the funds, No strings attached, just for
you to help us move it out of Iraq .

Iraq is a war zone, so we plan on using diplomatic means in shipping
the money out as military cargo using diplomatic immunity. If you are
interested I will
send you the full details, my job is to find a good partner that we
can trust and thatwill assist us.

Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send an e-mail
signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone
numbers for quick communication also your contact details.

This is risk free.

With regards from,

Sgt.Richard Thomas

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam