419 scam: "Gregory Hart"<info@000700.com> THE THE FBI MESSAGE

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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "fbi washington" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real FBI will not tell you to contact some email address. If you are in any doubt, contact an FBI field office via www.fbi.gov. )
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "fbifinancewatch@fastwebmail.it" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Gregory Hart" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fbifinancewatch@fastwebmail.it>
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 16:15:49 +0100
Subject: THE THE FBI MESSAGE

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FBI HEADQUARTERS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
http://www.fbi.gov

RE: YOUR OUTSTANDING PAYMENT.

The Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI Washington),United States of America have discovered that you have an outstanding transaction worth US$10,500,000.00 which is either inheritance, lottery or contract payment which has been approved for payment but is yet to be paid to you.

We are working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigerian Government and the United Nations (UN) to ensure that you receive your payment. We thus, officially inform you that we have verified your contract/Lottery/ inheritance payment file after close monitoring and found out why you have not received the payment, both on your part and on the part of your debtors.

Our discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN) and the Nigerian Government agreed that the US$10.5M should be paid to you through the use of an Electronic ATM Card System. The ATM card will be processed by the Intercontinental Bank Nig. Plc, Lagos - Nigeria.

You are to forward the following details to Mr. Desmond Uti of the Intercontinental Bank Nig. Plc for immediate processing of your payment through the e-mail address: internationaloperationsicb@fastwebmail.it

The details to be forwarded to the bank are:

(1)Your Full Name:
(2) Address:
(3)City:
(4)State:
(5) Zip code:
(8) Direct Telephone Number:
(9) Age:
(10) Sex
(11) Occupation:
(12)Confidential E-mail address:

We have mandated the Intercontinental Bank Nig. Plc to process your payment within 48 hours of receiving your details which means that you must notify us once you contact the bank to enable us follow up with them to ensure that your payment is promptly processed.

You are to get back to us if you need further clarification and do feel free to inform us of your past effort to claim the funds and if there has been any monetary involvement from you. To who and how much did you spend without results as this will enable us to prosecute those involved.

Faithfully Yours,

MR .GREGORY HART
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI Washington)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
E-mail: fbifinancewatch@fastwebmail.it

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam