419 scam: "Dr. Egobia Walter" <drwalter5@gmail.com> My Dear Good 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:
- "it will be a bank to bank transfer" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united state 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "there are practically no risks involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. Egobia Walter" <drwalter5@gmail.com>
Reply-To: drwalter2010@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:51:36 +0200
Subject: My Dear Good Friend,

From: Dr. Egobia Walter
Standard Chartered Bank
Kumasi Branch
Tel +233547327561
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +233547327561 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

My Dear Good Friend,

My name is Dr. Egobia Walter I am the regional manager of Standard
Chartered Bank Kumasi branch Ghana. I got your information on a recent
bank conference with other West African countries held in Lome the
capital city of Togo in West Africa. I write you this proposal in good
faith; I am 42 years old married with two lovely kids.

I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit you and I,
as the regional manager of the Standard Chartered Bank it is my duty
to send in a financial report to my head office in the capital city
Accra at the end of each business year. On the course of the last year
2009 business report, I discovered that my branch in which I am the
manager made Six Million united state dollars($6,000,000.00) which my
head office are not aware of and will never be aware of. I have placed
this funds on what we call escrow call account with no beneficiary. As
an officer of this bank I cannot be directly connected to this money,
so my aim of contacting you is to assist me receive this money in your
bank account and get 30% of the total funds as commission.

There are practically no risks involved, it will be a bank to bank
transfer, and all I need from you is to stand claim as the original
depositor of these funds who made the deposit with my branch so that
my head office can order the transfer to your designated bank account.
If you accept to work with me I will appreciate it very much.

My private phone number is above, call me if you think we can work
together or reply with your information bellow

Your Full Name:
Nationality:
Occupation:
Telephone Number:
Age:

Thank you in advance and May god bless you and your family.

Yours truly,
Dr. Egobia Walter

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam