419 scam: "William Caldwell"<user@vbcsupport.gr> CAN YOU?

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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:
- "a security company " (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. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "William Caldwell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williamcaldwell001@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2012 09:05:30 +0100
Subject: CAN YOU?

Hello,

My name is William Caldwell , a Lt. General Commander with (ISAF)
Presently in charge of the 1st Armored Division in Afghanistan.

My reason of contacting you is because I am looking for a Trustworthy
person to put his name to help claim some fund Deposited in a security
firm.

In course of our duty in 2003 to 2009, I secured the sum of (US$12,650,000 ) from the
stash money found while Serving in Baghdad Iraq and this money was
kept somewhere in a security Company vault, due to my redeployment
to Afghanistan.

If you are interested, more details will be given when I hear from you.

Respectfully

William . B .Caldwell

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam