419 scam: "Tobi Briggs"<tobi.briggs@yahoo.com> Honest and Trust

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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.

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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:
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- "you will be entitled to 30%" (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)
- "i got your address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Tobi Briggs" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tobi_briggs@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2011 23:29:08 +0100
Subject: Honest and Trust

Sir/Madam,

After due deliberation with my colleagues, I decided to forward to you this proposal, we want a reliable and trustworthy person who could assist us to transfer the sum of US$8.5M ( Eight Million, Five hundred thousand United States Dollars) only into his account.

This fund resulted from an over-invoiced bill from a contract awarded by us under the budget, allocated to my ministry and the bill was approved for payment by the concerned ministries, the contract has been executed, Commissioned and the contractor has been paid his actual cost for the contract. We are now left with the balance of US$8.5M as the over-invoiced amount, which we have deliberately over estimated/ inflated for our own use. But under our protocol division, civil servants are forbidden to operate, or own a foreign account. This is why I am contacting you for an assistance. We have agreed that you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum, 60% for us while 10% for any expenses incurred on both side while transacting this business.

As you may rightly want to know I got your address from a business directory here in Lagos. I am a top official with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). We the officials involved in this deal have put in many years of services to our establishment, we have been exercising patience for this opportunity for so long and to most of us, this is a life time opportunity we cannot afford to miss. This transaction is very much free from all sorts of risks. To enable us get this fund paid into your account, we have to present an international business outfit and consequent upon your agreement, I will tell you details on how to proceed.

NOTE: Your discussion regarding to this transaction should be limited, because we are still in Government service. Let honest and trust be our watch words throughout this transaction.
Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated.

Best regards,

Tobi Briggs

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam