419 scam: "CAPT. RICK WEBER" <mylink@att.net> URGENT RESPONSE!!!

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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:
- "million us dollars" (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)
- "keep this confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "CAPT. RICK WEBER" <mylink@att.net>
Reply-To: invest_cons@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:48:37 +0530
Subject: URGENT RESPONSE!!!

ATTENTION,

I am Captain. Rick Weber from the Monitor Group and Peace-keeping
Mission, in Libya.

I was alerted for sudden presence of some rebels camping in a bush.
After Immediate intervention, we captured twelve of the rebels and in
the process of torture, they confessed and took us to a cave in which
served as their camp, we recovered some boxes among which one box
contains ($8M) Eight Million US Dollars.

I now therefore decided to contact you in the hope that you might be
of help of receiving and secure the box containing the US Dollars in
your country, for our mutual benefit.

Please, be mindful of the fact that I would prefer that you keep this
confidential as I am still in the service and I do not want to lose my
Job. If all is completed, I will be relocating to your country after
my service in Libya. In which case, I would appreciate if you can help
me invest the funds in any available business venture over there.

I wait for your urgent response to enable me give you the full details
possibly to follow up this letter in a more comprehensive manner. If
you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, and I shall be
very willing to answer you as honest as possible.

Best Regards,
CAPT. RICK WEBER.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam