419 scam: "Jon Burns" <jbns@gala.net> Dear Friend

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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",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)
- "njoburn@gala.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "njoburn@gala.net" (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: "Jon Burns" <jbns@gala.net>
Reply-To: njosburn@gala.net
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:21:20 -0500
Subject: Dear Friend

Dear Friend,
I write to you as a matter of uttermost urgency in respect of a business
transaction which I trust will be of interest to you. It pertains certain
accounts which in the wake of the September 11 attacks were "MARKED" by the
Counter- terrorism unit of the FBI, these accounts are belonging to key Arab
businessmen and influential players in the mid-east, these accounts have been a
subject of investigation and has since been cleared by the FBI and I have been
entrusted with the duty of returning the accounts to the rightful owners but
unfortunately a lot of these people are nowhere to be found.
Should you be interested, my proposal is for you to be the sole beneficiary of
these funds which is running into $126,000,000.00 USD. This partnership is to
be on 50%-50% basis. But you have to be confidential!
If this proposition offends your moral values, do accept my apology, and ignore
this mail. However, if you are interested provide me your name, age,address and
relevant bio-data on this email address: njoburn@gala.net
Yours faithfully,
Mr. Jon Burns.
njoburn@gala.net

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam