419 scam: "Mr. Mark Benson." <melissadrehmel224@gmail.com> @

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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:
- ",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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Mark Benson." <melissadrehmel224@gmail.com>
Reply-To: office.fille_26444@aol.com
Date: Mon, 2 May 2022 12:25:43 +0100
Subject: @

Dear Beneficiary,

You have been approved to receive a payment of US$1,200,000.00 from
the United Nations Coronavirus Business Interruption Rebound Program
(CBIRP) 2020/2021 grant prize award. This program is designed to
relieve some lucky individuals round the world that was affected by
the economic damages caused by Covid19 pandemic.
However, all litigation procedures for the payment of your awards has
been met and the total amount of US$250,000,000.00 has been
successfully deposited into Goza Bank for disbursement to 200
beneficiaries.
Kindly contact Goza Bank today through any of the following method
below to complete the Grant Application and receive your prize today.
Goza Bank Contact Info;
Website: www.bank-holdings.com (Active 24/7 Live Chat)
E-mail:
Phone Number: +1(877) 204-5557
Easily visit the Goza Bank Website today and navigate to Enroll Button
to register for an online banking account.

Goza Bank Website: https://bank-holdings.com/

Notes; once you complete the registration form and submit it to Goza
Bank using your reference number (Ref#: CECB8352001BS), you will
receive a total credit of $1,200,000.00 only into the account within
24 hours after registration. (Account Registration Is Free)
We encourage you not to ignore this message, because your safety is
100% guaranteed and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will monitor
this transaction to ensure that every beneficiary is protected from
fraud.

At Your service,
Mr. Mark Benson.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam