419 scam: "Larry Smith"<angel@zzu.edu.cn> Your Reply means Alot

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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348023313767 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <lrrsmith079@clicknigeria.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:11:21 +0100
Subject: Your Reply means Alot

Dear friend,

I am Mr. Larry Smith, an accountant of a financial firm, I am writing this letter to solicit for support and assistance from you to carry out a business of mutual benefit and concern. I know you would be wondering why I am writing you with a request such as these but I only urge you to read on. Pending in our vault is a numbered time fixed deposit of belonging to Mr. Floyd Curtis of Triple G limited. Valued presently at $15.5Million dollars, Mr. Floyd Curtis lost his life in a car accident on his way home,which left the entire community in a state of shock.

I am sorry if this news is too traumatic for you but I was only trying to paint the picture to you. His time deposit has been re-run twice and inline with the contractual agreement entered with him, we cannot re-run it again, efforts has since been exhaustively made to source out his kin but to no avail. Information reached me that the bank wants to return the account as dormant thereby paving way for the fund to be remitted into the governments confine for arms purchase, at this juncture I had to stampede that possibility by writing to debunk all efforts for the government to seize the funds, hence I am asking you to stand in as the next of Kin to Mr. Floyd Curtis and the funds shall be transmitted to you, we shall share the funds in the ratio of 50-40, while 10% will be for unprecedented expenses incurred by both parties in the course of this transfer.If you are interested in this transaction kindly send your response with your contact details.

give me a call for more information Regarding this transaction +2348023313767.

Best regards,
Mr. Larry Smith (accountant).

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam