419 scam: Kwameh Ibrahim <mikahdogoh1@gmail.com> How are you today?

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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 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "observe utmost confidentiality" (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 next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Kwameh Ibrahim <mikahdogoh1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: nangihaffi@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:40:17 +0100
Subject: How are you today?

Dear Sir,

How are you today? I hope you are fine.

Before I proceed i would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Mr
Kwameh Ibrahim a staff of one of a Commercial Bank in Republic of Ghana. I
have a confidential business proposition for you. I got your contact from
(Worldwide Chamber of commerce Directory) On September, 2004 An oil
consultant / contractor with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Mr
Jamel Ismail made a numbered time of fixed deposit for twelve calendar
months valued at Nine Million united states dollars US$9,000,000.00 in my
branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding
address but got no reply.

After a month, i sent a reminder and finally discovered from his contact
employers, that he died along with his family in auto crash. On further
investigation, I found out that he did not leave a WILL and all attempts to
trace his next of kin were fruitless. I also made further investigation and
discovered that, he did not declare any next of kin in all his official
documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork. This sum of US$9M is still
in our Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at
the end of each year. No one will come forward to claim it.

According to our banking ethics and law , at the expiration of 9 years, the
money will revert to the ownership of our bank if nobody applies to claim
the funds. Now, my proposal is that I would want you, as a foreigner to
stand as the next of kin to Mr Jamel Ismail so that the fruits of this old
man's labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt government
officials in my country.

This is simple,
1)I would want you to provide to me immediately your full names and address
so that the attorney will prepare all the necessary documents and
affidavits, which will put you in place as the next of kin to this fixed
deposit. (2) We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting all
the necessary documents in your favor for the transfer of this money to you
as the beneficiary / next of kin of Mr Jamel Ismail The money will be paid
into your account for us to share in the ratio of 50% for you and 50% for
me.

There is no risk as all the paper work for this transaction will be done by
the attorney and my position as a staff of this department, guarantees the
successful execution of this deal. If you are interested, reply
immediately. Upon your response I shall then give you more details and
relevant documents that will help you understand the deal very well.

Kindly observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that this
transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require
your assistance to invest my share in your country. Feel free to call me on
my telephone number ( +233 242 313805 ) and also send me a mail to enable
me give you more details.

Regards,
Mr Kwameh Ibrahim

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam