419 scam: Paul Hurley <davidhurley-05@hotmail.com> Good-morning,

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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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: Paul Hurley <davidhurley-05@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <paulholdstock01@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 18:09:33 +0000
Subject: Good-morning,

Good-morning,

I am sending this email to you informing you about these good news that will change both of our lives.I am Mr Paul, a staff in the accounts management section with one of the prime Banks here in this country. One of our accounts with holding balance of US$7,000,000 (Seven Million US Dollars) have been dormant and have not been operated for the years ago. From my investigations and confirmations, the owner of this account, a foreigner by Name Mr Nath died years ago and since then nobody has done anything as regards the claiming of this money because he has no family members who are aware of the existence of neither the account nor the funds,he has not filed any details as whom is his next of kin that will inherit his fortune.

Why i contacted you is that i want to use you as the next of kin of the deceased because you are the Late owner of the funds answers the same last name/surname. It will be very easy for me to use my high rank position in this bank to process all necessities for the bank to approve the transfer of the funds to you as the next of kin to the late owner of the funds.The deceased did not officially state any next of kin in his account particulars when opening the account with our bank,so,i want to file in your name in the accounts records making you the next of kin and beneficiary of the funds.

This transaction is totally free from any risk ,there is no risk involved in future after we inherit the funds.I assure you that you will never regret doing this business with me in future. I assure you that your interest in this transaction will be well protected by me. I will give you 40% for your assistance in helping me to inherit the funds while i take 60%.I hope this sharing ratio is well accepted by you.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Regards,
Paul

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam