419 scam: Richard Adams <richardadams50012@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)
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million pounds" (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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Richard Adams <richardadams50012@gmail.com>
Reply-To: richardadams3000@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2015 09:23:03 -0700
Subject: Dear friend

Dear friend

My name is Richard Adams. I work with one of the leading Banks here in
London, UK. I would need your consent to present you as the next of kin to
our late customer who died of heart attack in 2009. He was a wealthy
business man who deposited the sum of 15,000,000:00(Fifteen Million Pounds
Sterling) in our Bank. He died without any registered next of kin as he
was long divorced and
had no child.

I was his account officer and have in my possession all the documents
required to present you as his beneficiary next of kin. We can work
together to claim
this fund. Please listen, this is real and goes on in Banks all over the
world without people knowing. Let us utilize this opportunity because it
does not come always. A lot of customers open private accounts with
different Banks without the knowledge of their families and when they die,
such money will be lost to the Bank unless someone comes to claim it. This
is how a lot of Bank Directors make so much money silently.

On your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest, I will
furnish you with more details. Please endeavor to provide me with the
following so
that we can discuss in details

1)mobile phone numbers
2)full name
3)contact address and occupation

I urgently hope to get your response as soon as possible.
Yours
Sincerely,
Richard Adams

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam