419 scam: "MR.George Dao" <george_da223@msn.com> URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.

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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)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "MR.George Dao" <george_da223@msn.com>
Reply-To: georgedao22@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:48:48 +0200
Subject: URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.

Dear Friend,

Good Day,

I know that this message will come to you as a surprise. I am Mr.George Dao, "THE CHIEF AUDITOR IN CHARGE OF THE FOREIGN REMITTANCE UNIT here in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso. I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust that I am about to repose on you for the mutual benefit of our both families.

I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of (us$14.3m) Fourteen Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars to your account within 14 banking days. This money has been dormant for years in our bank without claim..I want the bank to release / transfer the money to your account over there as the nearest person to the deceased customer, the owner (the deceased customer) of the account died along with his supposed next of kin in an air crash since 2003.

I don't want the money to go into our bank treasury as an abandoned fund. So this is the reason why I contacted you so that the bank can release / transfer the money to you as the next of kin to the deceased customer.

Please i would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested. Upon receipt of your reply, i will give you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 45% of the above mentioned sum if you agree to handle this business with me and 55% will be for me.

Best regards,

Mr.George Dao.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam