419 scam: Diana Roberts <diana2roberts@yahoo.com> Hello My Dear Friend,

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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)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Diana Roberts <diana2roberts@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: diana_roberts12@live.fr
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 21:59:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Hello My Dear Friend,

Hello My Dear Friend,

after reading your profile I became quite interested in you and decided to review the secret of my life to you and hope that you will come to my rescue It's my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to establish in your country, Though I have not met with you before but I believe one has to risk, confiding in someone to succeed sometimes in life.There is huge amount of money Seven million five hundred U.S dollars my late Father deposited in a security company.here in Abidjan Cote D' Ivoire before he was poisoned to death by his business associates on one of their outings on a business trip. Now, I have decided to invest the money in your country or anywhere safe enough outside Africa for security purposes, I require your assistance to transfer the money out of Africa to a more relaxed environment, an environment free from political disturbances, riots, civil war and demonstration, an environment where human rights are
respected. I want you to help me to transfer this fund to your country for investment purposes on the followings below:

1). Telecommunication
2). International School
3). Five star hotel

If you can be of an assistance to me, I will be pleased to offer to you 25% Of the total fund.

I await your soonest response.
Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested in assist me,

Extend my warmest regards to your entire family.

Thank you and God bless you.
Sincerely,

Ms Diana Roberts.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam