419 scam: "Mr Gibson Brown" <officeinfobb7@gmail.com> GREETINGS TO 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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "livingbiblechurch@voila.fr" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Gibson Brown" <officeinfobb7@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officeinfobb6@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2009 14:14:56 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: GREETINGS TO YOU

Lot 26 Derekpo Akpakpa
Cotonou Benin Republic

Greetings to you,

Pls forgive me for contacting you this way in this transaction. I am
Gibson Brown the only surviving son of Late Eng Brown Mathew who was a
consultant Enginner. My late father,mother and two other sisters died on
plane crash while they are on tour to Thailand. You can see the website
below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6997381.stm

Meanwhile mine reason of contacing you is for you to stand as the next of
kin to the $3.2M that my late father deposited at the bank here in Benin
Republic,which i can not claim now because of my age.And the deposit is
dormant. According to our lawyer, the law imposed by the British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown said in World Press Confrerence on Tuesday 6
december 2005 at 12:18 GMT

For more information about the prime Minister decision on dormant accounts
visit the website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stm

Based on this information i am contacting you so that the fund will be
transfer into your foreign account as the rigthful next of kin. I make
offer of 20% of the total money to you,and 5% for any expenses you incur,
while 75% will remain for me. I will come over to your country for the
contiunation of my education and life once the fund is transferred into
your account. We need the below informatiom from you to proceed;

Your Full Names..............................
Your Direct Phone ............................
Your Present Address...........................
Your Occupation................................

As soon as you reply , i will let you know the next steps and procedures
to follow in order to finalize this transaction. REPLY TO ALTERNATIVE
EMAIL: (livingbiblechurch@voila.fr)
I expect your urgent communication.

Thanks
Yours sincerely ,
Mr Gibson Brown

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam