419 scam: "Mr Henry Mbekhi"<henrymbekhi@webmail.co.za> GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "may come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "my direct line" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
- "mr.henrymbekhi@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +27833175041 (South Africa, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Henry Mbekhi" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.henrymbekhi@live.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 04:03:21 +0200
Subject: GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I pray that this email reaches you in the best of health. Please do not take this for a junk letter though it may come to you as a surprise due to the fact that we have not yet met. The message could be strange but it's real if you pay some attention to it. I want to notify you about it at least for the sake of your integrity.

My name is Henry Mbekhi and I work with a Commercial Bank here in Johannesburg, South Africa. We had a customer that had a deposit of 24.5M United States Dollars, before he died in a plane crash with his wife and only Child about 4years now (January 30,2001) and since he died, we in the Bank here have been expecting his/her next of kin/relative(s) for the inheritance of the deposit, but none has surfaced.

The policy of the Bank however stipulates a limited time period for such Inheritance to be made or the fund will be written off going by the record of the incident, the time limit for the claim is closing up. In this consideration, I am contacting you to seek for your kind understanding and sincere co-operation to claim this inheritance for our mutual benefit in view If you can stand as the next of kin in this project, success is assured because I am in possession of the personal file jacket of the deceased which contains every needed information about the deceased account, you and I stand no risk of any kind because I have enough information to support you in claiming the inheritance.

The proceedings of the transaction will be shared 65% for me and 25% for you, while 10% will be for expenses incurred during the course of the transaction. Kindly indicate your willingness and we shall proceed with the initial step for the claim.

Please reply me on this Email: mr.henrymbekhi@live.com Call me on my direct line +27 83-317-5041, for more detailed information, if the email didn't go through.

Best Regards,

Mr. Henry Mbekhi

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam