419 scam: "Mr. Mark Martinelli" <mmart06@skymail.mn> RESPOND URGENTLY

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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 us 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)
- "mmart02@skymail.mn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Mark Martinelli" <mmart06@skymail.mn>
Reply-To: mmart02@skymail.mn
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:38:43 +0000
Subject: RESPOND URGENTLY

Greetings

My name is Mark Martinelli, I work with a Bank as the auditing general manager
and also resides in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I have interest investing in your
country as
well as seeking your service/assistance in private and confidential
matter, I am
the Auditing general manager heading Audit department here in our bank, on my
routine inspection, I discovered a dormant domiciliary account with a
Balance of
Seventeen and a half million US Dollars [$17.5 Million USD],
therefore, I write
to seek your indulgence and assistance in transferring this fund to
your country
through legal means.

I am proposing to make this transfer to a designated bank account of
your choice
in your country for investments and also give you 50% share of the
fund for your
unconditional assistance in the transaction. Please write me back for further
details and let me know if you can handle it with extreme confidentiality.

Regard,
Mark
Email: mmart02@skymail.mn

----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam