419 scam: "Mr. Bernard Madoff" <service@arthinkdesign.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)
- "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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Bernard Madoff" <service@arthinkdesign.com>
Reply-To: benmadoff50@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2016 04:38:24 -0800
Subject: Dear friend

Dear Friend,

I hope this email meets you well; I am Bernard Madoff, an American convicts, an American stockbroker, investment adviser, and financier. Before my arrest in December 11, 2008, I was the founder of Wall Street firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960 an also the Chairman of WallStreet Firm.

On March 12, 2009, I pleaded guilty to eleven federal felonies and admitted to turning my wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme, which defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars in USA.

My case was in court trial until June 29, 2009, and I was sentenced to 150 years in prison. I am still serving my jail term, and right now I am battling with Kidney Cancer and waiting for my death. The USA government has confiscated all my assets, my wife has left me, and my two sons are dead. I have lost everything that I value so much in life, and my life is worthless and nothing matters to me again.

I have accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and personal savior and I have regretted my actions, which I am showing remorse over my wrong doing in betraying the people who entrusted their trust in me. I am now a born again Christian, and have repented from my sins.

I have in my possession a total sum of â‚¬100,000.000.00 (One Hundred Million Euro), which the USA Government is not aware about this fund. I have determined to share this wealth and give hope to the less privilege with it and homes to homeless, people who are facing hardship in life, Natural disaster and war victims of Middle East and Africa respectively. Motherless homes, old people home and abandoned babes too etc....

I am writing you to assist me in distributing this fund, through charity means and give life to the less privileged ones. I have gone through your profiles during my search for someone that i could assign and commit this mission to and were rightly convinced that somebody of your statue will not stoop so low to derail in this kind of social and humanitarian task for no reason whatsoever hence am contacting you.

You can read more details about me by typing my name in google.com (Bernard L Madoff). I will be expecting to hear from you any moment from now. May the peace of the lord be with you and your family.

Regards

Bernard Madoff

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam