419 scam: "Michael Hillary"<michaelhillary00@london.com> Re; Reply

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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)
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
- "dormant account" (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.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- michaelhillary00@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Michael Hillary" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michaelhillary00@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 08:21:54 +1000
Subject: Re; Reply

Dear Friend,

I am aware that this letter has come to you as a surprise as we have not met before or handled any business deal in the past. Nevertheless, I have contacted you with genuine intentions and I hope I can trust you with this Inheritance opportunity which I explain below.

My name is Mr Michael Hillary, an account manager with a bank here in United Kingdom. I retrieved your contact address in my search for the next of kin to a deceased customer of our bank Mr Robb, a citizen of your country, who lived and died here in the United Kingdom from cardiac Arrest in the year 2004. Unfortunately this customer died intestate leaving his bank account with an open beneficiary status. All efforts made to locate his relatives have been unsuccessful so I decided to write you as I have monitored this account In the bank for almost 10years now and no one has come forth with any claim. I would like to present you to our bank as his next of kin to claim this dormant account worth GBP10.7 Million (Ten Million Seven Hundred Thousand British Pounds) only.

You will apply to the bank as a relative to the deceased customer while I work from the Inside to make sure all needed information and evidences are provided to you to back up your claim confidentially. The account has an open beneficiary status that is why I have contacted you to come forth and claim the funds as the next of kin and beneficiary. Since he is from your country and you both share the same last name, it easy for you to become his official next of kin. If we do not make claim to this account now, the funds would be reverted back to the coffers of the Government as unclaimed estate at the expiration of a 10 year dormancy period as approved.

I assure you that this transaction would be handled under due Inheritance procedures and every necessary legitimate arrangement will be put in place to keep you free from any breach of the law, and it also requires all confidentiality at this stage and I believe that you are ready to keep this absolutely discreet until you are able to claim the funds from the bank. Once the funds are released to you, it will be shared between the two of us.

Please send your response to my personal email michaelhillary00@yahoo.com.hk indicating readiness to proceed with this transaction and I would give you more details, and we shall discuss the sharing ratio as well as the procedure to achieve a successful completion.

I await your response

Regards

Mr.Michael Hillary

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam