419 scam: "Mr. John.Crew" <johncrew002@gmail.com> CAN I TRUST YOU IN THIS PROJECT?

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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:
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "johncrew1@msn.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. John.Crew" <johncrew002@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johncrew1@msn.com
Date: Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:34:32 +0100
Subject: CAN I TRUST YOU IN THIS PROJECT?

Greetings,

Do accept my apologies if my mail does not meet your personal ethics,
I want to
introduce myself and this business opportunity to you. My name is
Mr.John Crew ,
An account Officer to Late Mr. John Shumejda . I wish to know if we can work
together,I would like you to stand as the next of kin to my deceased
client Late
Mr. John Shumejda who made deposits of Us$25 Million United State
Dollars to our
bank. He died without any registered next of kin and as such funds now have an
open beneficiary mandate.

From my Investigation, it was clear to me that the owner of this
dormant account
by name Late Mr.John Shumejda is dead. For more details visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/1742404.stm

According to British Government, all dormant account will be
confiscated by law
if it remains dormant without any claim. I therefore solicit for your sincere
cooperation in receiving this fund in your account as the foreign
beneficiary of
the fund, to avoid confiscating of the fund by the British Government. For
details on that visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stm.

This transaction will be done in a legitimate procedure within 10
banking days.
Sharing Modalities will be 50/50. If you are interested you do let me know so
that I can give you Comprehensive details on what we are to do. I
urgently hope
to get your response as soon as possible.Please Reply back with this
email below
PRIVATE EMAIL:(johncrew1@msn.com)

Best regards,

Mr.John Crew

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam