419 scam: "Sereya"<tep3sereya@gmail.com> Dear friend

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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Sereya" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tep_sereya@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:41:48 +0700
Subject: Dear friend

Dear Friend

I know this mail will come to you as a surprise because you don't know me,but knowing somebody starts in a day. In view of my correspondence with you, I unassumingly solicit for your utmost consideration,as this letter serves as my formal notice of transaction. I am Mr.Tep sereya the manager of auditing and accounting department of a Bank in Asia.I
discovered that a client who is now dead left some huge amount of money without any next of kin. I am contacting you for a business transaction that will benefit both of us. I need your partnership to stand in as the Next of Kin because you share almost the same name with him and also a
citizen of your country,so I want to present you to my bank so that my bank can transfer the money to you,as the Next of Kin then we proceed for the sharing. I will tell you how everything will be executed in my next.
mail if your interested to achieve this success with me.

I wait to hear from you,

Regards,
Tep sereya

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam