419 scam: "Mr. Dominic T Ray"<info-dir@msn.com> RE: PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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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:
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
- "is highly confidential" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Dominic T Ray" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kindlydom@yandex.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 00:42:29 +1000
Subject: RE: PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

A Good Friend

Good day to you , I crave your indulgence to acknowledge the receipt of this paroposal . Am very self-reliant to make this appeal to you so we can handle a business transaction that will change our financial status .
Please, note that the understanding facts expressed here is highly confidential . I need your collaboration to stand as a strategic partner regarding a substantial amount of capital for investment purposes or otherwise .

I discovered this capital in our financial institution , it was supposed to be owned by external / foreign contractors that supplied products / did one contract or so in our country, but after several months of thorough investigation, i found out that the fund does not belong to any external contractor , it was an over draft payment made in regards to the external contractors which no name was tagged to it, in other words, I carefully placed this fund on a hidden profile for the past 20 months without any internal / external auditors in our financial institution referring to it.
There are no illegal act on this transaction, all we have to do is to follow the due process and my instruction accordingly to transfer this fund to your nominated bank account .

If you are interested in partnering with me , your acknowledgment will prompt me for more details .

Kind Regards
Dominic T Ray

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam