419 scam: "Mr. Augustine Brown" <cyriacus_brown@yahoo.com> VERY URGENT

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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
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.
- +447035911851 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Augustine Brown" <cyriacus_brown@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: mraugustinebrown@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:08:43 -0400
Subject: VERY URGENT

Mr. Augustine Brown
Chief Executive
Bank of Scotland,
#25 Gresham Street
London
EC2V 7HN.

Dear Sir/Madam!

I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of One Hundred
And Sixty Two Million British Pounds Sterling
(£162,000,000.00) to your account.

The fund has been dormant (in-active) for more than 8 years in our
Bank here without anybody coming for it. I want to release the fund to
you as the nearest person to our deceased customer (the owner of the
account) who died along
after a brief Illness in London. The Bank will release the fund to you
as the nearest person to the deceased customer. For more information
about the deceased customer you can visit this site:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2956897.stm

This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential. I am
sure and have confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute
a project of this great magnitude. I solicit your assistance to enable
us transfer the
said amount into your safe account for onward investment. You can
either provide me with an existing bank account or to set up a new
Bank account immediately to receive this money, even an empty a/c can
serve to receive this
money, as long as you will remain honest to me till the end of this
important business, trusting in you and believing in God that you will
never let me down in future when the funds will transferred into your
account.

The owner of this account is a foreigner and no other person knows
about this account or anything concerning it, the account has no other
beneficiary and until his death he was the manager of his company. My
investigation
through the National immigration department and Ministries here proved
to me as well that he was single during his first visit in UK. As a
matter of fact, I have decided to transfer this fund abroad for
investment plan.
If you are interested, please fill and forward me the following
information as below to start the transfer process accordingly.

{1} Your Name/company's name and full address:.............
{2} Bank Name:..........
{3} Bank Address.........
{4} Account No:............
{5} Swift Code or Routing #
{6} Account Holder's Name: ............
{7} Your telephone Number both Home, Office &
Cell/Mobile and fax Numbers:........
{8} Your Occupation:.........

I look forward to hear from you as soon as possible if you are interested.

Waiting to hear from you soon.

Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Augustine Brown.
Tell: +447035911851.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam