419 scam: "Capt. Brian Horn" <capt.brianh@yahoo.com> URGENT

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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 friend" (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.
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.
- brian_horn@rediffmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Capt. Brian Horn" <capt.brianh@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: brian_horn@rediffmail.com
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:32:19 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: URGENT

Dear Friend,

I guess this mail will be as a surprise to you, however, that shouldn't
disturb you, my name is Capt. Brian Horn, a US Army serving in the 3rd
Infantry Division at Iraq. I want you to read this mail carefully and
understand it.

In 2003, I and my men discovered over $120 million in Saddam Hussein's
hideout in Baghdad, we sent some back to the Iraq government after
counting it in a classified location, but we also kept some behind for
ourselves. Some of the money we shared among ourselves worth over
$55million, and I have kept mine for a while here in a much secured place
since then, just like many others, but now Obama administration is pulling
us out of Iraq gradually in no distance time, we have however left the
major cities of Iraq, while some have left.

So I need someone that is not related to me, to help me, good strategy
plans have been put down for the evacuating of the boxes, I just need
someone I can trust because we have lost a box of gold to someone that
said he will help us last time and I won't like to make this same mistake,
the total amount of money I am trying to move out is $6.2 million USD. You
can view the link below to verify my statement.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

If you can be handle this deal let me know immediately, you will receive
20% of the money and you don't have to pay me any money, all you need to
do is to find a safe place where you can keep these boxes till we leave
Iraq. Get back to me immediately.

Regards,

Capt. Brian Horn
Alternative Email: brian_horn@rediffmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam