419 scam: PostNet <intomowh9@gmail.com> GREETINGS

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states 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)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
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.
- anderla833@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: PostNet <intomowh9@gmail.com>
Reply-To: anderla833@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2023 06:58:05 +0200
Subject: GREETINGS

Hello,

I am aware that this letter had come to you as a surprise as we had
not met before or handled any business deal in the past. Nevertheless,
I have contacted you with genuine intentions, and I hope I can trust
you with this Inheritance opportunity which I explain below.

My name is Mr. Larry Anderson, an account manager with a reputable
bank here in South Africa. I retrieved your contact address in my
search for the next of kin to a deceased customer of our bank, a
citizen of your country, lived and died in South Africa from Cardiac
Arrest in 2016. Unfortunately, this customer died intestate, leaving
his bank account with an open beneficiary status. All efforts made by
our bank to locate his relatives have been unsuccessful, so I decided
to write to you as I have monitored this account in the bank for
almost ten years now and no one has come forth with any claim. I want
to present you to our bank as his next of kin to claim this dormant
account worth USD$30 Million (Thirty Million United States Dollars
Only).

You will apply to the bank as an extended relative to the deceased
customer while I work from the inside to ensure all needed information
and evidence is provided to you to back up your claim. The account has
an open beneficiary status, which is why I have contacted you to come
forth and claim the funds as the next of kin and beneficiary. Since he
is from your country, it is easy for you to become his official next
of kin. If we do not claim the funds now, the funds would be reverted
to the system as unclaimed estate at the expiration of a 10-year
dormancy period.

I assure you that this transaction will be handled under due
inheritance procedures, and every necessary legitimate arrangement
will be put in place to make you the real beneficiary of the
inheritance funds. It also requires all confidentiality at this stage,
and I believe you are ready to keep this discreet until you can claim
the funds from the bank here in South Africa. Once the funds are
released to you, they will be shared between the two of us.

Send your response indicating readiness to proceed with this
transaction. Thereafter I will give you more details, and we shall
have an in-depth discussion regarding the successful completion of
this transaction.

I await your immediate response to my direct email account below

Sincerely Yours,
Larry Anderson (Mr)
Email: anderla833@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam