419 scam: "Mr. Harry Johnson"<harry@ecobanktg.tk> AWAITING YOUR QUICK RESPONSE!

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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)
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "money gram" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "million 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)
- "can i trust you?" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Harry Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <harry-johnson@o2.pl>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:54:43 -0700
Subject: AWAITING YOUR QUICK RESPONSE!

My dear friend,

I know the internet is not the best place for this discussion because many people have insulted the internet with a lot of stories about transfer of money, inheritance, marriage scam so the internet is not safe because you may link this letter to be one of that same rubbish but it is not I assure you.

My name is Harry Johnson I work with the Bank I head the Forex department and I want to make this proposal open to you because I will be retiring by the end of this year so I have to save some money for the retirement. I want both of us to do this business together secretly, I don’t want you to have any fears the business is a very safe deal I have done it twice and it went perfectly well only that the people I did it with are so greedy and wicked, for this reason that is why I am contacting you, I believe you will not fail or disappoint me.

I will send you an ATM Master card from our bank with which you can withdraw $10,000 daily from any ATM machine worldwide. I can put about half a million dollars on the ATM card and send it to you by FedEx or DHL then each day once you withdraw $10,000 you have to send me %60 of it every day until the $500,000 finishes, this card can be ready under 24hrs and I will send it to you that is if you are interested in the business but my problem is can I trust you?

If you are going to follow our agreement I will tell you the next step which you must have to follow for me to prepare the ATM card and send to you immediately but the most important part of the transaction is that nobody apart from yourself and myself would hear about this ATM card and you must not fail to send my own part of the money everyday by Western Union or Money Gram.

My good friend if you are interested in this transaction I will tell you what you have to do which will enable me to prepare the ATM card and send to you. Mind you this email is for your eyes only because any information leakage can make me lose my JOB but have no fears it is a very safe deal there is no risk involve I will tell you how everything will work in my next mail to you once I receive your acceptance email.

Get back to me if you are interested and I will tell you what you must do to achieve our goal.

I wait to hear from you,

Regards,
Mr. Harry Johnson

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam