419 scam: "Mr.James Holmes" <james@nat.com> Waiting To Hearing From You Soon

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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million pounds" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
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.
- jamesholmesoffice@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.James Holmes" <james@nat.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: jamesholmesoffice@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2012 10:19:30 -0400
Subject: Waiting To Hearing From You Soon

FROM THE DESK OF MR.JAMES HOLMES

Dear Friend,

Before i proceed i wish to introduce myself to you ,I am James Holmes a staff
of NatWest Bank plc London. I am the head of the accounts department.I am
pleased to get across to you for a very urgent and profitable business proposal
which I believe will profit the both of us after completion. I contacted you
after a careful thought that you might be capable of handling this business
transaction, which i explained below. The sum of (£18,500,000.00 Million
Pounds), has been floating as unclaimed since 2000 in my bank as all efforts to
get across to the his relatives of our client who deposited the money have hit
the stones , On July 31th,
2000, Mr. Kurt Ran Kahle, Evlyne his wife, and their son Michael all died in the
air France concord plane crash bound for New York in their plan for a world
cruise.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm
My position here at my office requires me to investigate and I therefore made
further investigations and discovered that Mr. Kurt Ran Kahle did not declare
any next of kin or relation in all his official documents, including his bank
deposit paperwork in my bank. I have decided to seek your assistance to have you
stand as his next of kin so that the said fund (£18,500,000.00 Million Pounds),
would be released in your name as the next of kin and paid into your account.
All documents and proof that will have you claim this fund without stress will
be forwarded to you upon your response to this mail more so. I want to inform
you that i have unanimously agreed to offer you (£7.2M) of the total sum for
the
assistance and role you are going to play in this transaction,(£2.8M) will be
given to charity organizations in your country with your supervision while the
remaining will be for me. Please send your confidential telephone and fax number
in your reply to this mail : jamesholmesoffice@gmail.com

Regards,
James Holmes(Mr.)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam