419 scam: "Howard James" <oracle@geodiscalberson.hu> INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY.

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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned 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: "Howard James" <oracle@geodiscalberson.hu>
Reply-To: hwmtaaa@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 10:27:29 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY.

Dear Friend,

With due respect Sir,
I am sure this letter will come to you as a surprise because myself who is
the writer have not in any way come in close contact with you except that
my search for a good and reliable person I could confined on to carry out
successfully a business I have at hand. However, mails people send to
various individuals and companies on the internet have also made it so
impossible for one to do business reliably with other internet users all
over the world.

I solicit and hope that this letter will not be considered or treated like
one of those letters. I have a proposal for you - this however is not
mandatory nor will I in any manner compel you to honor against your will.

My name is Minta Howard, former Financial Controller of the ex- Liberian
President Mr.Charles Taylor. Before he was arrested he instructed me,
being his financial controller to look for a capable hand (some one) who
will invest his money $25M dollars and 250 kg of Gold Bar for sale which i
will like us to invest in a period of twenty years, the trustee of the
money will have 10% of it and the interest will be shared fifty/fifty. The
contract can be renewed after twenty years till the problem of Mr.
President over.

Presently am under cover if you are willing to stand on my behalf we can
work thing out and do try and keep this TOP SECRET, So if you are prepared
to work with Me and Mr. President to invest his money, please contact me
immediately for more details via this email address for more information.

We also have Diamond secured in a very large quantity. Please kindly
express yourself on this because we need an outsider on Top profile to
handle this Issue.
Regards.
Minta Howard.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam