419 scam: "Mr.Sheriff Ahmed."<Ahmed@nyu.edu> Thank you very much for your understanding

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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:
- "huge sum of money" (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)
- "top secret" (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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <sheriffahmed111@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:51:08 -0700
Subject: Thank you very much for your understanding

Hi,

I am Mr.Sheriff Ahmed from Syria.I am in London at the moment as a

political refugee because of the recent problems of my country.

I have a huge sum of money deposited in an offshore security company

and I need your urgent help to quickly move this money from the

present place to another country of your choice in your name for

investment to avoid any question concerning the source, it is

the only thing left for me now and I want to start a new life with it.

This transaction requires immediate attention because of the current

political

situation in my country (Syria) and i do not want to lose this money

to the rebels or government.

It is a huge sum of money and I am ready to offer you 30% of the money

to stand as the beneficiary and transfer to a new bank account of your

choice. I believe you can help me, but on the contrary please forgive

my indulgence and delete this e-mail content without sharing

with anyone.

If you are interested and able to handle this for me in all honesty

without any betrayal of trust that I shall repose on you then contact

me for more details.Please note that this transaction is confidential

and should be kept in top secret until we have completed the transfer

to your appointed account.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Thanks,

Mr.Sheriff Ahmed.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam