419 scam: Brown Smith <bronwsmith50@gmail.com> hi

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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)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Brown Smith <bronwsmith50@gmail.com>
Reply-To: smithbrown50tg@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2018 15:24:14 -0800
Subject: hi

Dear friend,

I Know this message will come to you as a surprise as we have not met
before and because of a lot of activities going on in the internet
today. But I assure you that this is real. Please do welcome this
letter and help out as you finish reading.

I am accountant Manager with Prime Bank in Republic of Togo. A
national of your country, who used to work with an oil servicing
company here, the late customer made a numbered time (fixed)
deposited, valued at (USD 10.5 Million) in my branch.

my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as the
next of kin to deceased person for the fact that you have same
Nationality with him so that this money will not be reverted by the
government.

I Want you to stand as the nearest person (next of Kin) to the
deceased customer for this claims/ release to you.

Upon your reply. I will give you details on how the business will be
executed, and I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust and
confident that I am about to repose on you for mutual benefits of our
families.

I wait your response, Have a great day.

Regards,
Brown Smith.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam