419 scam: "Mr. John Crews"<zz386546@gmail.com> Urgent Attention,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million dollars" (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)
- ",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)
- "is 100% risk-free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
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.
- info.johncrews@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. John Crews" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info.johncrews@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2018 02:06:37 -0600
Subject: Urgent Attention,

Hello,

l know this proposal will come to you as a surprise but kindly permit me to strike this deal with you on a very high confidential level.

My name is Mr. John Crews... and I am The Head of Accounts Department in The Ghana Ministry of Roads and HighWays. My Department is in-charge of Approval of Payments for road construction contracts awarded to foreign contractors/companies here in Ghana.

Some road construction contracts were supposed to be awarded to two Contractors/Companies at the sum of THIRTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS (USD$35,000,000.00) each, making a total of SEVENTY MILLION DOLLARS (USD$70,000,000.00).

But based on a special arrangement, we negotiated with one foreign company and they executed the contract at the cost of THIRTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS only and the contract has been commissioned and the company has been duly paid.

Now the reason why I contacted you is that, I want to present you as the second foreign contractor so that the balance of THIRTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLARS (USD$35,000,000.00) will be paid to your account for us to share in any agreed percentage.

I want you to know that all the processes are going to be legal and I will provide all the legal backup documents to make you one of the foreign contractors to enable a successful transfer of the funds. I also assure you that this transaction is 100% risk-free.

Please if you are interested, reply to my private email: [info.johncrews@gmail.com] so that I will give you more details of the procedure.

Sincerely,
Mr. John Crews...

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam