419 scam: "William"<smtp@melissarocks.com> Urgent message from William Jonne

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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:
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "William" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <williamjonne@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 2013 10:03:41 -0600
Subject: Urgent message from William Jonne

ATTENTION:

RE: YOUR INHERITANCE CONTRACT/ WINNING FUND OF USD$15.5 MILLION,THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR OVER DUE COMPENSATION/

INHERITANCE FUND HAS BEEN APPROVED TO BE RELEASED TO YOU VIA THE FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OF OUR BANK. MEANWHILE, A

WOMAN CAME TO MY OFFICE FEW DAYS AGO WITH A LETTER, CLAIMING TO BE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENT BY YOU ?

HERE ARE HER INFORMATION'S: NAME: GERADEAN PETERSON BANK NAME: BANK OF NEW-YORK. ACCOUNT NUMBER: 052418003301. PLEASE, DO

CONFIRM TO THIS OFFICE AS A MATTER OF URGENCY IF THIS WOMAN IS FROM YOU SO THAT OUR BANK WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR

WRONGFUL PAYMENT OR UNLAWFUL DIVERT ION OF YOUR OVERDUE FUND INTO A WRONG ACCOUNT.

HOWEVER,WE SHALL PROCEED TO ISSUE ALL PAYMENTS DETAILS TO THE SAID MRS.GERADEAN PETERSON IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN

THE NEXT THREE WORKING DAYS FROM TODAY. IF SHE IS NOT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OR SENT BY YOU, THEN YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT

THIS OFFICE IMMEDIATELY RECONFIRMING TO US THE FOLLOWING DETAILS FOR US TO CROSS CHECK AND PROCESS YOUR PAYMENT.

1. YOUR FULL NAMES:
2. RESIDENT CONTACT ADDRESS:
3. DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER OR CELL NUMBER:
4. AGE AND OCCUPATION :
THANKS FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION AND UNDERSTANDING.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
DR. William Jonne.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam