419 scam: usman abu <usman_abu001@sify.com> MY Greeting 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:
- "million us 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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: usman abu <usman_abu001@sify.com>
Reply-To: usman.abu001@sify.com
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:58:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: MY Greeting to you,

MY Greeting to you,

I am Mr usman abu from Burkina Faso. in west Africa I want to seek your assistance i'm the manager of Bill and Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department of BANK OF AFRICA,(BOA) In my department I discovered an abandoned sum of USD$15.5 million US dollars in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in plane Crash

Since his death, the bank has been expecting his next of Kin to come over and claim his money because the bank can't release it unless somebody applies for it as his next of Kin, please I want you to stand for me as his next of kin so that my bank will transfer the fund into your account then I will come over to meet you in

your country for us to share money, do not view this as been illegal but an opportunity and it's 100% risk free as await your urgent response to enable me give you more details. please reply with those information's below so that I can know you very well before I go ahead with you

Name ........................
Country..................
Phone number ................
Fax..................................................
Your Age...........................................
Occupation........................ ...............
Address............................................

Bank Name.......................................
Bank Address.........................................
Account number........................................
Account name..........................................
Bank swift code.......................................

Remain bless,

Mr usman abu

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam