419 scam: "Mr. William Smith" <mrwillsmith55@hotmail.com> Regarding Your Fund Transfer

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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:
- "transfer of your funds" (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)
- "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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "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: "Mr. William Smith" <mrwillsmith55@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: mrwillsmith80@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 20:33:12 +0800
Subject: Regarding Your Fund Transfer

From the office of Mr. William Smith
Director Computer Payment
Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN)
Address 11 Lagos island Nigeria.

CONGRATULATIONS, Regarding the Investigation made by the United Nation
Organization In conjunction with the International Monetary Funds in all banks
in Africa, We have found your funds with the Nigeria Government, The said
Funds will be pulled out from the Bank and will be wired to you by bank to
bank transfer we advise you to try and meet up the transfer requirements,
according to the information gathered from the bank's security computer, we
were notified that you have waited for so long to receive your Funds without
any success, Now we advise you to stop any conversation with any body or
office from now until you receive your funds, we also confirmed that you have
not met all statutory requirements in respect of your pending Funds.

We are helping you to make sure that your funds gets to you without any
problem. We have contacted the Payment Clearance Department to issue all the
necessary documents that will back up the transfer of your funds to your
account so you have nothing to worry about. We have also met with the Board of
Directors/Trustees to make sure the transfer hits your account, therefore the
transfer will commence as soon as we hear from you.The Computer Payment
Department which specialize in transferring foreign funds will make sure that
you receive your funds and has been in this line for many years now. YOUR FUND
IS US$10.7 Million Dollars Only kindly forward to us the needed information below:

(1) Your Full Name and Address:
(2) Your Age and Marital Status:
(3) Your Occupation:
(4) Your Telephone/Fax Number:
(5) Your Nationality:
(6) Your Full Banking Details

Please maintain topmost secrecy about this development as we are using this
media to help you. Therefore you are advised not to inform anyone about this
until you received your Funds.

Please confirm message granted with "GO AHEAD ORDER" Congratulations

Yours Faithfully,
Mr. William Smith

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam