419 scam: "Mark Harris"<harris.mark207@gmail.com> Mutual Benefit, Its urgent!

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "% will be for you" (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)
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mark Harris" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <m_harris_009@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 02:59:19 -0700
Subject: Mutual Benefit, Its urgent!

Hello!,

Good day to you. I am Mark Harris; I am an Executive Officer with Camelot Group Plc.; the licensed operator of the UK National Lottery. I wish to use this medium to seek your consent and cooperation in the context stated below believing that you will give my request/ proposal adequate and urgent attention.

There is an unclaimed prize fund of the total sum of £5,958,850 (Five Million, Nine Hundred and Fifty Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fifty Great British Pounds Sterling) in my company. The winner of the prize has failed to come forward for the claim of his/her prize and most importantly, there is a claim deadline of 180 days((six months) for the claim of any winning prize and after this deadline, if the prize is not claimed, It will be forfeited by the winner and remitted to the UK government treasury.

Please note that, there have been some cases like this in the past were prizes were forfeited because they were not claimed before the 180 days claim deadline. Some of this unclaimed prizes was aired on BBC news and the UK lottery post news. You can check the web address below to see and understand what I am talking about.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-25133711

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/4573760.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18550580

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-18766367

http://www.lotterypost.com/news/104653.htm

The reasons why some winners fail to claim their prizes may be one or all of the following:

1. The winner may have accidentally thrown away the tickets and lost track of the winning ticket number and other vital

information as regards the lucky win.

2. Some winners do not check their tickets properly.

3 The winner may not be aware of the victory.

4. The winner may have died.

5. The National Lottery does not advice winners about their winning prize via email notification; so most winners may not be aware that they won in the draws.

In view of the above, I hereby seek your consent to cooperate with me so that I can provide you the winning information that won the prize to enable you apply for the claim of the fund as the winner. Please note that this can be achievable because, as an Executive Officer of my company, I have access to all the information pertaining to this winning prize which I will communicate to you in due course to enable you claim this funds since the winner of the funds has failed come for the claim. There is total assurance that he/she will not come for it because every vigilant winner will be anxious to know the outcome of a lottery draw even before the results are released.

Please note that there is no risk involved if you work with me because the prize is genuine and there will be no trace that you are not the real winner/owner of the prize. Also the National Lottery will issue you some backup documents alongside the prize cheque as a proof of the genuine source of the fund. This way you will not be questioned by any authority about the origin or legality of the fund. Once this prize fund is paid to you, Our mode of sharing will be on a 50......... 50 basis. i.e. 50% will be for me while the remaining 50% will be for you. The important thing here is that we shall meet face to face before this prize will be paid to you. I believe this will increase your trust in this project and make you put in your all to work with me.

I look forward to your quick response while thanking you for your anticipated co-operation.

Best regards,
Mark Harris.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam