419 scam: "Mr. John Brown"<lee@lee.com> ATTN: Esteemed Beneficiary

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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:
- "million 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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348123275998
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- africauniondept2009@yahoo.co.jp (Yahoo, Japan; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. John Brown" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <africauniondept2009@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 23:35:02 +0530
Subject: ATTN: Esteemed Beneficiary

ATTN: Esteemed Beneficiary,

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contact
file presently in our database, as regards your African Union
(AU)solidarity fund that was awarded to you upon been one of the lucky
Beneficiary in its last draw on the 1ST of June 2010. This award is
funded by the African Union( AU) and the United Nations(UN) so as to
strengthen ties between Africa and the rest of the world with
particular reference to Nigeria.

We have discovered you have not received your payment due to your lack
of co-operation and not fulfilling the obligations giving to you in
respect to your contract payment.

Secondly, you are hereby advised to stop dealing with some
non-officials in the bank as this is an illegal act and will have to
stop if you so wish to receive your payment immediately. After the
board meeting held at our headquarters, we have resolved in finding a
solution to this problem, and as you may know, we have arranged your
payment through our SWIFT CARD PAYMENT CENTRE in Europe,
America,Africa and Asia Pacific, which is the instruction given by our
president, GOODLUCK JONATHAN (GCFR) Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The ATM Card Value is $7.000.000.00 (Seven Million Dollars). Our bank(
OCEANIC Bank Plc) will send you an ATM CARD which you will use to
withdraw your money totaling to a tune of $7.000.000.00 (Seven Million
Dollars) in an ATM MACHINE in any part of the world, but the maximum
is ($15,000) per transaction. So, if you like to receive your fund
this way, reply to this office immediately for the issuing of your
(ATM) CARD with the below Information.

(1) Your Full Name:
(2) Address where you want the payment center to send your ATM CARD:
(3) Phone And Fax Number:
(4) Bank Name:
(5) Occupation:
(6) Age:

Alternatively, you can come down to the header address to claim your
fund with the original notification mail that will be sent to you
shortly. We shall be expecting to receive your information you have to
stop any further communication with anybody or office apart from this
office of the presidency. On this regards, do not hesitate to contact
me for more details and direction, and also please do update me with
any new development.
Thanks for your co-operation.

Note: Because of impostors, we hereby issue you with our code of
conduct, which is (406) so you have to indicate this code when
contacting or emailing this CARD CENTER.
Kindly contact me through this mail: africauniondept2009@yahoo.co.jp

Regards,
Dr. John Brown
Remittance Manager
OCEANIC Bank Plc
Mobile: +234-8123275998

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam