419 scam: "Mr.Ben K" <mr.ben717@ig.com.br> Your Reply Please

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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:
- "good day friend" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "discussion of this transaction in further details" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united state 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)
- "million 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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "ben.korley@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Ben K" <mr.ben717@ig.com.br>
Reply-To: mr.ben717@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 18:03:12 +0000
Subject: Your Reply Please

Good day friend,

it is my profound pleasure to contact you regardless of the fact that
we do not know each other in person. My decision to contact you is
based on your reputation as attested in your profile. Please bear in
mind that this mail and the classified information contained therein
that I am about to share with you can either destroy me, ruin my
professional career or make me depending on how you receive and take
it. Please, I need you to read this mail attentively to know the
reason and purpose why you receive the same. Kindly allow me to
briefly introduce my person before I explain in details.

I am Mr. Ben Korley , a Chartered Accountant and Risk Management with
one of the leading bank located in West Africa (Accra Ghana) and I
handle all our Investors capital Project Funds which enabled me to
divert 1.2 Percent Investors Excess Return Capital Funds to our
Magellan Trust Funds Account whereby anyone can be presented to claim
the funds. On this note, a total sum of US$69 Million Dollars (Sixty
Nine Million United State dollars) has been diverted representing the
1.2 Percent Excess Return Capital Funds from the Investor Capital
Project Funds for 2012/2013. I need a reliable and trustworthy person
that can work this deal out with me so that we can claim the funds as
mentioned above. There is no risk attached and the funds in question
can never be detected or traced after claim. Our sharing ratio would
be 50:50. If you are interested, please reply and send your direct
telephone numbers to me for a smooth discussion of this transaction in
further details.

But if you are not interested or see this mail as a spam or hoax
simply delete it and forget I ever contacted you. If after 72 hours I
didn't hear from you I will assume you are not interested, and then I
will proceed to look for someone else that might be interested to work
with me. This is a clean and straight forward bank deal; it is safe
and risk-free, as I have taken care of all necessary steps to ensure a
hitch-free movement of funds to your designated bank account.I will
await your urgent response to this mail.(ben.korley@outlook.com)

Sincerely Yours.
Mr. Ben Korley

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam