419 scam: "James Russell"<jamesruss202@yahoo.co.jp> ****CAN I TRUST YOU?****

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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us 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)
- ",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)
- "can i trust you?" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "courier company" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "James Russell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamesruss100@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2013 23:43:15 -0000
Subject: ****CAN I TRUST YOU?****

MR. JAMES RUSSELL
SHELL PETROLEUM PLC
OPERATIONS OFFICER
PACKAGING & COURIER DEPT.

GOOD DAY,

I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW ME .I AM MR. JAMES
RUSSELL, I WORK WITH THE SHELL PETROLEUM PLC, PACKAGING AND COURIER DEPARTMENT. I
GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH FOR A HONEST PERSON AND SOME ONE I COULD TRUST. CAN I
TRUST YOU??

A RUSSIAN FRIEND BETRAYED MY TRUST ON HIM AND DISAPPEARED WITH MY $12 MILLION TILL
TODAY. I CAN'T REPORT HIM BECAUSE OF THE WAY I MOVED THE FUNDS OUT AND WE ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO OPERATE FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT. PLEASE CAN YOU GIVE ME FULL ASSURANCE ON
YOUR TRUST.

I WANT YOU TO HELP ME CLEAR THIS PACKAGE THAT IS ALREADY IN EUROPE WHICH I SHIPPED
THROUGH CBN ACCREDITED COURIER AGENT. THE CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGE IS
$20,000,000.00(TWENTY MILLION US DOLLARS) ALL IN $100.00 NOTES, BUT THE COURIER
COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THAT IT IS MONEY THAT I HAVE IN THE PACKAGE.

ALL I WANT YOU TO DO FOR ME NOW IS TO GIVE ME MAILING ADDRESS, YOUR PRIVATE PHONE AND
FAX SO THAT I CAN GIVE YOU MORE DETAILS, AND I HOPE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU
WILL HAVE 40% AND 60% WILL BE FOR ME. MY IDENTITY MUST NOT BE REVEALED TO ANYBODY.

1: YOUR FULL NAMES:
2: YOUR ADDRESS:
3: YOUR PROFESSION:
4: YOUR CONTACT PHONE NUMBERS
5: NAME OF THE NEAREST AIRPORT TO YOUR LOCATION:

YOU CAN CALL OR E-MAIL ME FOR SECURITY REASONS OTHER MODALITIES WILL BE DISCUSSED AS
SOON AS YOU GET BACK TO ME, INCLUDING SENDING KEYS OF THE TRUNK TO YOU.

WARM REGARDS TO YOUR FAMILY,

MR. JAMES RUSSELL
SHELL PETROLEUM PLC
OPERATIONS OFFICER
PACKAGING & COURIER DEPT.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam