419 scam: Martin Hey <heymartin173@gmail.com> 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:

The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "there are practically no risks involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Martin Hey <heymartin173@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 07:54:00 -0700
Subject: Urgent

Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Mr.Hey Martin, a manager of a branch of the ABSA Bank here in
South Africa. I am an African married with two kids.
I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us. As
the manager of the bank, it my duty to send financial reports to my head
office in the capital city of Johannesburg. On the course of the last year
2013 end of the of the year report, I discovered that my branch in Free
State in which I am the manager made 10 Million five Hundred Thousand US
Dollars (10,500,000.00) of which my head office is not aware of and will
never be aware of it. I have since then PLACED this fund on a SUSPENCE
ACCOUNT without a beneficiary.
As an officer of the bank, I cannot be directly connected to this money
thus I am impelled to request for your assistance to receive this money
into your bank account. I intend to part 30% of this fund to you while 70%
shall be for me. I do need to assure you that there are practically no
risks involved in this. It is going to be a bank-to-bank transfer. All I
need from you is to stand as the original depositor of this fund.
If you accept this offer, I will appreciate your timely response.
Best Regards,
Mr.Hey Martin

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam