419 scam: "Charles Martinson"<martinson.charles@hfcbank.co.uk> Important Message from Charles Martinson

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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.
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)
- "u.k " (this email uses bad English)
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.
- charlesamart777@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Charles Martinson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <charlesamart777@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:14:01 +0100
Subject: Important Message from Charles Martinson

From Mr Charles A Martinson,
Cumbria United Kingdom.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Mr. Charles A Martinson, Senior Manager, Private banking department of one of the major banks here in the United Kingdom. I was the personal account manager to Late Mr. Michael Yanovskiy, a Russian businessman.

Sometime in 2001, Late Mr. Michael Yanovskiy made a timed deposit in our bank. Upon maturity, a routine letter was sent to his provided address but we received no reply. Several other efforts made to contact him were fruitless. Then after investigation, I discovered that he was among the victims of the Flash Airlines Crash of 3 Jan 2004 http://www.b737.org.uk/flashair.htm, together with his wife and two sons as they were returning to Paris from holiday.

Since then we have written several letters for any possible relative or next-of-kin to come forward for the claim but unfortunately, till this moment no one has come as his relation for his deposit with us. Since it is over five years, the money will be handed over to the government if no body comes to lay claim of the money as the beneficiary/next of kin to the account owner as an unclaimed deposit according to U.K Financial Services Authority (FSA) rule.

The fund is currently in a suspense account waiting for claim. I humbly request your attention/assistance in transferring this fund to you. We can present and give you all the necessary guideline to stand as his next-of-kin and from inside we will facilitate the remittance to you. We will give you more details about the transaction when we receive your affirmative response. Looking forward to hearing from you. Note do use my alternative email address: charlesamart777@hotmail.co.uk for all correspondence and without this alternative email your response will not be considered relevant.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours Faithfully,

Mr. Charles A Martinson

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam