419 scam: Mr.Thomas Woods. <office1@hncmi.com> Greetings!

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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:
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
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.
- bray_williams@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: Mr.Thomas Woods. <office1@hncmi.com>
Reply-To: <bray_williams@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2022 07:19:46 -0800
Subject: Greetings!

Greetings!

My name is Thomas Woods new appointed USPS Courier Service regular delivery director Head office in Arlington Texas United States, i assumed this office on the 10th,January 2022 after going through the files of the previous records i discovered that there are six parcels containing ATM cards each one attached with an email address of the owner on it which the former appointee of this office (Richard Moore Jr.) failed to carry out the delivery as it was instructed and programmed probably one of his reasons for not carrying out the delivery was that you could not provide your delivery address and other information to him for the completion of the shipment as he remarked.

According to the content recorded in each file, the ATM card was deposited by one Senior Evangelist Mathew Peterson who died last year as a charity foundation parcel to each of the six of you, on the statement he wrote on the list he stated that each of the aforementioned ATM cards contains the sum of US$10,700,000.00 (Ten Million,Seven Hundred Thousand United State Dollars and he found your email address as reputable and capable persons that can use the charity awarded ATM Cards to change the lives of people.

Meanwhile, after all verification I reported the issue of the discovered six ATM cards to the management board and they instructed me to deposit the six parcels containing ATM cards to a finance institution for security reasons pending when you will make claim as the legal beneficiary of the parcel ATM CARD.

I have sent the same message of the same content to five other abandoned ATM CARDS each at the same time and if you found this message in your spam folder it could be due to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) so move the message to your inbox before you reply.

Therefore, you are advised to contact the financial agent via his private email with the below information for claim;

Contact Person: Mr. Bray Williams
Email: bray_williams@aol.com

Full name:---------------------------
House Address:-----------------------
Phone No:----------------------------
Country:-----------------------------
Gender:------------------------------

Regards,
Mr.Thomas Woods.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam