419 scam: Martin King <mr.martin553@yahoo.com> My Dear Friend.

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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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "inland revenue" (Tax offices mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. Even after you pay their fake tax demands you will still not receive the non-existent funds you have been promised. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Martin King <mr.martin553@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: king53martin@yahoo.fr
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:52:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: My Dear Friend.

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
MR. MARTIN KING

My Dear Friend,

PLEASE , READ CAREFULLY.

My name is Mr. MARTIN KING . I work with A Bank in Cote D' ivoire as the Regional manager,plateau Branch, in the Western Region of Cote d' ivoire.I am 53 years old with three kids. I have packaged a transaction that will be of mutual benefit to us. As the branch Manager of the Bank in Cote D'ivoire, it is my duty to send a financial reportto my head office in the capital city, plateau, at the end of each financial year.

Following the release of the second quarter financial report, ending June2009, I discovered that my branch made Ten Million, Five Hundred Thousand dollars($10,500,000.00 ); from the transactions accruing to the account of the Inland Revenue Service (IRS). This was not detected by the renowned auditors from my head office.

I have moved the funds into what the Bank call Escrow Call Account with no beneficiary. Meanwhile as you know I can not be directly connected to this money for obvious reasons. So my contacting you is to assist me receive the funds in your Bank account in your country; which I know is possible if you liaise properly with me and get 30% of the total funds as your benefit.

The transfer would be made via swift and it will be a Bank-to-Bank wired transfer.All I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of this fund. I will compute your particulars as the person who made the deposit in my branch, so that my head office will immediately order the transfer to your designated Bank Account.mail me if you think we can work together.

Thanks for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours truly.

MR. MARTIN KING.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam