419 scam: "Lt. Kenneth J. Hamilton"<kenhamilton@usamilitary.com> Hello

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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:
- "my names are " (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Lt. Kenneth J. Hamilton" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kjhamilton85@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2012 08:39:23 -0700
Subject: Hello

Greetings,

I have a proposal for you, my names are Lt. Kenneth J. Hamilton, a US Army who
served in the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. I want you to read this mail
carefully and understand it.

In 2003, I and my men found over $600 million in Saddam Hussein's hideout in
Baghdad, we reported and sent some back to the Iraq government after counting it
in a classified location, but we also kept behind some of the money which we
shared among ourselves($200million), I have kept mine in a very secured place since then,
just like many others but now we have been pulled out of Iraq, right now we
have left the major cities of Iraq and are camping in Kuwait for a very short time.

I need your help, I need someone that is not related to me, to help me store this cash,
everything is ready, I just need someone I can trust because I have lost a lot in the past
and I won't like to make the same mistake, the total amount of money I am trying to move out is
$10million. You can view the links below to verify my statement.

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

http://www.military.com/news/article/elated-last-us-troops-leave-iraq-ending-war.html?comp=700001075741&rank=8

If you can handle this deal let me know immediately, I will give you 30% of the
money, all you need do is to find a safe place where you can keep the boxes till
we arrive USA. Get back to me immediately through my private email

Lt. Kenneth J. Hamilton
Private mail: ltkjhamillton@inbox.al

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam