419 scam: "LARRY OWEN"<sales@sohu.net> MUTUAL TRUST

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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)
- "hundred thousand 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 next of kin scam.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447024033556 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "LARRY OWEN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <larrowen02@live.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 02:23:38 -0700
Subject: MUTUAL TRUST

Dear Friend,

I am Mr. Larry Owen, Manager-Treasury Unit of a Bank in London. I am contacting you to assist in the claim of some outstanding sum of money which was left by one of my very good clients who died in an air crash;AF4590 plane crash on his way from Germany to New York to join a Caribbean cruise for a "vacation of a lifetime". He died with his wife, two children and his wife’s parents in that crash. Mr. Christian Eich ran car maker BMW's museum and an engineer with one of the foremost construction firms here in London. He left no known next of kin and all our attempts to trace someone related to him to whom we could pay the money proved abortive. I have now personally decided to contact you to stand on behalf of the family so I can present you as his next of kin using my influence as a Manager of Treasury Department of this bank.The amount involved is USD15.7 million (Fifteen million seven hundred thousand United States Dollars) which is the account balance. You can view the news article for more details on the

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

I contacted you because it is against our code of ethics to own and operate a foreign accounts and your assistance would be needed to claim the money. I have agreed that 30% of the entire sum would be for you if you agree to take part in this profitable transaction, 65% for me while the remaining 5% would be used to pay back the expenses that may be incurred during the course of the transaction by both parties after the fund has been claimed as the next of kin.

You should send the following information's to me.

1. FULL NAMES.

2. CONTACT ADDRESS.

3. OCCUPATION.

4. DIRECT PHONE NUMBER.

5. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.

Upon the receipt of the above information I shall send you more details.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. Larry Owen.

Tel: +44-7024033556.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam