419 scam: "Mr.Ben Chester" <benchester170@accountant.org> Hello Friend

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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:
- "necessary legal documents" (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. )
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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.
- benchester170@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Ben Chester" <benchester170@accountant.org>
Reply-To: benchester170@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:22:16 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Hello Friend

Dearest Friend,

I am Mr.Ben Chester the manager Accounting Audit Department of Alliance
Bank,Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am contacting in regards to a business
proposal that will be of an immense benefit to both of us and the less
privileged ones. Being the manager accounting
audit department of our Head/Regional office discovered a sum of $8.5M
USD in an account
belonging to one of our foreign customers Late Mr.Moises Saba Masri. He
was a Jewish business mogul from Mexico who died on a helicopter crash
early last year. Mr.Saba was 47-years-old when both his wife, his only son
Avraham (Albert) and his daughter-in-law died in a helicopter crash.You
can get more information about Late Mr.Moises Saba Masri's unfortunate
crash on the website-link below here.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3832556,00.html?
The choice of contacting you was personal and based on trust and also due
to the sensitive
nature of the transaction and the confidentiality herein.
Now our bank has been waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the
claim of the
inheritance fund but unfortunately nobody has asked for the funds from
anywhere until this
moment.I personally have been unsuccessful in locating neither the
relatives nor any next of
kin to Mr. Saba. On this regards, I seek your consent to present you as
the next of kin /will
beneficiary to the deceased so that the procedure of this account valued
at $8.5M USD can be
paid to you. This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages 60% to
me and 40% to you. I have secured all necessary legal documents that can
be used to back up this claim we are about to make. All I need is to
upload your names to the documents and legalize at the British High Court
in order to prove you the legitimate Next of kin/beneficiary. All I
require now is your honest
co-operation; confidentiality and trust to enable us see this transaction
through. I guarantee you 100 % success and that this business transaction
will be executed under the ambit of law and will also protect you from any
breach of the contract.
Please provide me the following as we have 7 working days to run
it through:
1. Your full name:
2. Telephone number:
3. Contact address:
4. Age:
5. Gender:
6. Occupation:
Having gone through a methodical search, I decided to contact you hoping
that you will find this proposal interesting. Please on your confirmation
of this message and indicating your interest I will furnish you with more
information's.Contact me via this Email:(benchester170@gmail.com)
Your concern to this e-mail and business proposal will be highly
appreciated.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr.Ben Chester.

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What can you do when you receive 419 spam