419 scam: "Fred Shabalala"<clundberg@ontro.com> CAN YOU ASSIST ME ?

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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)
- "million united states 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)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Fred Shabalala" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fredshabalala27@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2018 11:49:26 -0700
Subject: CAN YOU ASSIST ME ?

Dear friend,

It is nice and wonderful to contact you today. I am Mr. Fred Shabalala, I am a South African and a Bank Branch Manager in South Africa. I want to entrust you with the sum of US$20 million for investment in your country.

Presently, I am in grip of these funds (Twenty million United States Dollars) which is securely available for you and I to receive and share. And I am seeking for your cooperation and assistance to transfer this money to your place.

I secured these money from an unclaimed deposit made in our Bank since 2009 by a dead foreign customer who deals on Gold and Precious stones here in South Africa before his death. And all efforts to find any of his relatives have been to no avail. Also,nobody else knows about these money in my bank because Immediately I found out about these US$20 million, I placed it in an Escrow Account here in our bank without any beneficiary's information.

The reason I am contacting you now is for you to assist me to receive these $20 million from our Bank as the beneficiary. If you accepts this my proposal, I will submit your names and other details to our Bank head-office as the beneficiary of these funds. And I will send you every documents that establishes you as the beneficiary of these money to enhance your claim.

Honestly, I am ready to share these US$20 million equal with you. That's 50% for you and 50% for me. But you and I will bear the expenses for these money to be process and the transfer to you. And I want you to know that these $20 million will be transfer to you through bank to bank wire transfer. Hence,there will be no problem or breach of law in this transaction.

Do get back to me immediately to let me know if you are willing to work with me as proposed and send me this your details below.

1. Your complete names.

2. Your contact address.

3. Your Personal telephone numbers.

I await your prompt response soon.

Best regards,

Mr.Fred Shabalala.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam