419 scam: Sanni Thomas <sannithomas3@gmail.com> DO NOT BE SKEPTICAL

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge deposit" (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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- sannithomas3@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Sanni Thomas <sannithomas3@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:35:06 -0800
Subject: DO NOT BE SKEPTICAL

*Dear Friend,

I am writing to know if everything is fine with you and your family because
i had email you concerning the details information of your late cousin
Engr.Mathew **Lector* *and i do not know why you kept me quiet. I have
contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and property left behind
by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the
Bank where these huge deposits were lodged, particularly the UNITED BANK OF
AFRICA Where the deceased had an account Valued at about $20.6 million USA
dollars among other personal effects, including a life assurance policy
worth $2.2 million insured with American International Insurance Company's
African regional office in Nigeria (AIICO) The Head Office has issued me a
notice to provide the next of kin Or have the account confiscated within the
next ten official working days.

I swear with my salvation in Christ, If this transaction is not a blessing
from God, I wouldn't have involved myself in it and i will not be wasting my
time because i believe it is blessing from God,please am not pulling your
legs about anything. But i can assured you of whom you are dealing with
because this transaction is 100% risk free. I just think we could work
together for this transaction to go forth successfully.

I have also tried to make you convinced by sending you all copies of my
international passport and office identity card for your perusal, As a
matter of fact, I feel and dully understand that you have not yet understood
the nature of this transaction. I will want you to take a tunnel view of the
whole situation.

I contacted you in the first place because you have the same last name with
my late client Engr. Mathew **Lector**. The people might NOT have been
closely related to you by blood, but I know that all close family names get
to link with one another in the long run. So do not feel skeptical about
this, for everything is fine and I will always assure you that this
transaction is legally normal because is God that brought this opportunity
to us and we can not afford to loose it.

For Bank to begin this processing of the Remittance of the funds to you, I
will want you to forward the application to the bank so that they can
process the transfer of this fund to you. **Waiting urgently to hearing from
you as soon as you receive this message because we do not have much time to
waste and i want this transaction to be concluded in seven to ten days. Just
relax your mind and stay cool, You know we really need this fund and we will
surely get it.

Have a wonderful day with your family.

Regards,

Sanni Thomas*

On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 3:24 AM, Sanni Thomas <sannithomas3@gmail.com>wrote:

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam