419 scam: "Hon. George Osborne."<hongeorgeosborneimf@gmail.com> CONFIRM THE AUTHENTICITY.

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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: "Hon. George Osborne." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <Hon_G_Osborne_IMF@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 12:51:12 -0000
Subject: CONFIRM THE AUTHENTICITY.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Hon. George Osborne, Governor of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for
United Kingdom.

Your payment file has been forwarded to my desk by the International Monetary
and Financial Committee of the IMF with an application for change of funds
beneficiary in favour of Mr. Croft Amania.

Mr. Croft Amania, an Australian citicen, submitted a letter of claim for your
funds stating that you had given him a Power of Attorney to receive the funds
already approved in your favour. Ten Million, Eight Hundred Thousand United
State Dollars ( US$10.8M) is the amount approved for payment in your favour
as compensation.

You are required to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of the application of
claim submitted by Mr Croft.

Your urgent response is being awaited.
.
Yours Faithfully,

Hon. George Osborne.
Governor, IMF, United Kingdom.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam