419 scam: "Mr. James Dobia" <james_dobia@yahoo.co.jp> Dear Sir/Madam, please reply urgent.

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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "confidential business" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. James Dobia" <james_dobia@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: james_dobia@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:16:21 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam, please reply urgent.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Firstly, I apologize for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail instead of a Certified Post-mail, well my name is Mr.James Dobia, I have urgent and confidential business preposition about sum of (£6M GBP) six million british pounds which I will like you to execute with me and establish good business relationship with you, I know that it will not fail both of us and I will compensate you after the conclusion of the project.

My question to you is this; are you a sincere person and can I trust in you? If I can trust in you, kindly get back to me for more details.

Thanks for your co-operation,

Mr.James Dobia.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam