419 scam: "Mr. Bernie L. Madoff" <be@medin.net> Please read carefully and respond!!!

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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)
- ",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)
- "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. Bernie L. Madoff" <be@medin.net>
Reply-To: bernardmad78@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2016 03:48:54 -0800
Subject: Please read carefully and respond!!!

Dear Friend,

I am Bernard Madoff, the founder of Wall Street Firm, Bernard L. Madoff inv=
estmentsecurities LLC in 1960 and was the former chairman of NASDAQ. I was =
accuses of fraud worth over $170 Billion Dollars and was arrested on Dec 11=
, 2008 and on March 12, 2009, I was convicted of 11 federal crimes and admi=
tted to operating the largest ponzi Scheme in history.(http://money.howstuf=
fworks.com/ponzi-scheme5.htm) Let me not go into much details.

I have in my possession the sum of Seventy Million Euros (70,000,000.00Euro=
s) in a Bank, which nobody else knows about this except my account officers=
because the money was deposited under serial codes. I need your help, to g=
et this money out from the bank where its deposited and keep safely for me =
as I am sure of coming out from jail soon from my appeal. I have lost every=
thing in life and I can't get close to this fund on my own due to my situat=
ion, because the government have confiscated everything that I have. And ar=
e still eager to confiscate more if they find out any money or asset linkin=
g to me which I do not want it to happen That is why i contacted you to par=
tner with me to get the fund to a safer bank where you can have control ove=
r it.

This is the sharing modalities, 50% goes to charity and 20% will be mapped =
out for the promotion of gospel, building of churches and mosques all over =
the world and 25% for you while 4% goes to the bank officials who will help=
you facilitate the transaction and 1% for my up keeping in the prison. I k=
now that i will die very soon because of my heart attack and kidney cancer,=
and when I die, my 1% up keep will be added to the charity making it 51%. =
You need to assure me that I can trust you and you will not capitalize on m=
y problem to divert this fund once it gets to you. I would have prefer if y=
ou can visit me in the prison to see me and discuss detail with me but if y=
ou cannot, I will do it basically on trust since I have no choice.

I will be waiting for your reply any moment from now.

With Kind regards

Benard Madoff

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