419 scam: Mallam Tanko <mrmallamt@gmail.com> Inheritance claim

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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)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Mallam Tanko <mrmallamt@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrtmallam3@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 24 May 2015 16:39:22 -0700
Subject: Inheritance claim

Dear Friend,

This message might meet you in utmost surprise; however, itâ€™s just my urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this transaction. I am a banker by profession from Burkina Faso in West Africa and currently holding the post of Director Auditing and Accounting unit of the bank.

I have the opportunity of transferring the left over funds ($7.2million) which belong to one of our late foreign customer who died along with his entire family on 31 July 2000 in a plane crash. You can confirm the genuineness of the deceased death by clicking on this web site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

Hence, I am inviting you for a business deal where this money can be shared between us in the ratio of 60/40.If you are interested, please send me your full contact information as below and thereafter I will send to you TEXT OF APPLICATION FORM to apply for the fund. I will appreciate your kind gestures towards this fortune, may the Almighty God who provide for everyone bless you.

1. Full name:.........
2. Current Address:........
3. Telephone No:...........
4. Occupation:.............
5. Age:............
6. Country:........

Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Mallam Tanko.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam