419 scam: "Helen Oguma"<helenoguma@mcom.com> Respond Immediately...

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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 states 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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: "Helen Oguma" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ogumah@web2mail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:25:25 -0800
Subject: Respond Immediately...

Dear Beneficiary,

The United States Government, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and The United Nations Organization has officially approved to pay you part payment of 1.5 Million United States Dollars as part payment of your outstanding payment. We have the absolute right and authority to pay any funds emanating as a proceed of Inheritance, Contract payment, Business representative, Bogus cheque, Lottery and ATM Card transactions.in conjunction with Nigerian Government and Unity Bank Plc,With this development, a man by name (RALPH D. CHAPLIC) came to our office with an application and a bank account details stating that your family gave him the Power of Attorney to claim your outstanding payment, he made us to believe that you are dead and that he is your Next of Kin.

We got your email address and decided to send an email through this address hoping to find out if you are dead or alive and also to find out if you at any time gave this man the Power of Attorney to represent you.
Please let us know also if you are aware because we are almost ready to transfer part payment of USD1.5m of your outstanding funds to him with the nominated bank account stated below:

BANK OF AMERICA,
BANK ADDRESS: 14002 N DALE MABRY HYW N VILLAGE RD, TAMPA FLORIDA 33622-5118, USA,
BENEFICIARY: RALPH D. CHAPLIC,
ACCOUNT #: 898033920712,
ROUTING #: 026009593,
SWIFT CODE# BOFAUS3N

NOTE : You should re-confirm your full name ,address ,mobile number ,age and occupation to my private email address: ogumahelen@indamail.hu
Also make sure you respond to my e-mail immediately you recieve this mail so that your payment can be processed on time.

Yours faithfully,
Helen Oguma(Mrs)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam