419 scam: "BRAINS MAIL"<adm@mail.com> Your first (8) Ref-Control Numbers of $12,000 Is Ready.

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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)
- "money-gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- brian5423@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "BRAINS MAIL" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <godwin876@yandex.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2017 00:07:43 -0700
Subject: Your first (8) Ref-Control Numbers of $12,000 Is Ready.

UBA BANK HEAD OFFICE NO 47 UBA BANK MONEY-GRAM HEAD

OFFICE Lagos Nigeria . P.O Box 6699.

Attention: Dear Friend,

Greetings, am very sorry for taken much of your time at this moment but please try to understand and bear with me as you go through this urgent message. Anyway my name is Mr. Godwin Ebele i have tried to reaching you on mail all this while, but you fail to respond back to me, please be aware that your matter came to my desk which were dated since on the 25-03-2017 (1) month ago, with your compensation total amount of $250,000 United State Dollars, frankly speaking you are very lucky because you are going to receive your first (8) Ref-control numbers of $12,000 USD after responding to my mail. All this while your transfer has been stop because it was under investigation of money laundry by the Ministry of Information and National Orientation that was the reason your name were among those who were blacklisted but now we have settle your problem and removed your name from the blacklist, so your funds is free for transfer over to you now.

You are advise to reconfirm your full details and phone number to Mr. Brian Gordon contact him for your first payment.

Tell + 1 (951)402-3962

EMAIL: brian5423@yahoo.com

San Gabriel California USA

Mr. Brian Gordon.

Managing Director Of ( Foreign Department )

Yours Sincerely,

Mr. Godwin Ebele .

Managing Director Of

UBA Lagos Nigeria .

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam