419 scam: help me <owonikaholdings@gmail.com> My Dear Friend,

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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)
- "million 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)
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
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.
- ahmed_bashiru@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: help me <owonikaholdings@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ahmed_bashiru@aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2022 05:24:24 -0700
Subject: My Dear Friend,

Foreign Operations Department
African Development Bank
Togo West Africa.

My Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Bashiru Ahmed. The head of file auditing department of
African Development Bank (ADB) here in Lome Togo, In my department we
discovered an abandoned sum of (US$8.5 Million Dollars,) in an account
that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his
family in a plane crash.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this
business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of
kin or relation to the deceased for the safety and subsequent
disbursement since nobody is coming for it. I agree that 40% of this
money will be for you, while 60% would be for me. Then after the money
has been transferred into your account, I will visit your country for
an investment under your kind control.

You have to contact my Bank directly as the real next of kin of this
deceased account with the next of kin application form. You have to
send me your information below to enable me to use it and get you a
next of kin application form from the bank, so that you will contact
the Bank for the transfer of this money into your account.

Upon your response including your direct cellphone number/nationality
and contact details I shall then provide you with more details and
relevant information, please confirm the receipt of this message to my
alternative email address ( ahmed_bashiru@aol.com ) for more details.

1) Your full name.
2) Phone Number .
3) Email Address
4) Country:
5) Occupation:
6) Position and address.
7) Profession,
8) Age
9) Marital status.
10) Copy of Intel passport, driverâ€™s license, or any valid ID card.

I am waiting for your urgent respond to enable us proceed further
Yours sincerely
Mr. Bashiru Ahmed.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam