419 scam: "Kato, Maria" <maria.kato@hp.com> **** KINDEST ATTENTION****

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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 british pounds" (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)
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Kato, Maria" <maria.kato@hp.com>
Reply-To: "eli.morgan@foxmail.com" <eli.morgan@foxmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 16:27:34 +0000
Subject: **** KINDEST ATTENTION****

I write to you in good faith and trust that you will take a moment to consider the contents of this letter. I am Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan, the Chief

Auditor of an Assets Management Company in United Kingdom. In the course of my job, I discovered a floating fund in an account which was opened in 2009

belonging to a foreigner, who died in an air crash with his wife and children. All effort made to track any member of his family or next of kin

has since failed, hence I got in contact with you to stand as his next of kin. He died leaving no heir or a will.

My intention is to transfer this sum of Thirty Million British Pounds Sterling ( 30,000,000) in the above mentioned account to a safe account

overseas. I am therefore proposing that you partner with me and provide an existing account or set up a new account that will serve the purpose of

receiving the above fund.

For your assistance in this venture, I will give you 30% of the entire funds Nine Million British Pounds Sterling ( 9,000,000).

After going through the deceased person's records and files, I discovered

that:

(1) No one has operated this account since 2010

(2) He died without an heir; hence the money has been floating

(3) No other person knows about this account and there is no Next of Kin.

Reply stating your full names and direct telephone number.

Best Regards,

Mrs.Elizabeth Morgan .

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam