419 scam: "Kamala Harris" <chiouc@par.cse.nsysu.edu.tw> I.M.F.(International Monetary Funds

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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:
- ",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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "federal high court" (This court is often mentioned in '419' scams to give the victim a reason why he/she should send thousands of dollars to the scammers. A 'Federal High Court' exists in Germany and Nigeria, but not in other countries, such as the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Senegal, Benin, South Africa or other countries where fake lawyers in scams often claim to be based. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: officefile_0112@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2023 16:12:09 -0700
Subject: I.M.F.(International Monetary Funds

Attention

I am Christine Lagarde, a highly placed official officer of the
International Monetary Fund, West Africa (I.M.F.). I went to the First
bank this morning to examine exactly what is going on about the
documents we request from you to enable us to permit the First bank
Office to release the payment to you and Mr John Williams the FIRST
BANK Operation Manager told me that you called them Scammer. Is that
true?

I am a highly placed official officer in the I.M.F Office and I stand
hereby telling you that they are not Scammers. I know them as First
Bank Office (First Bank).We are International Monetary Fund units, and
we monitor every transaction in Africa.
So, when we discovered that Mr John Williams wanted to transfer the
payment to you we then put everything that they are doing on hold and
Mr John Williams said that you will not be able to trip down here and
sign the IMF Tax Certificate that was reason why we ask you to pay $50
to enable us allow the Bank transfer the sum of US$10,000,000.00.
Again, the bill of $50 that they asked you to pay is because Mr. John
Williams said that you can't be able to trip down here and sign the
IMF Tax Certificate and IMF Insurance Certificate so that was the
reason why we gave you the two option either to pay the $50 for we to
issue the documents or you come down here and sign the documents with
your hands.

This $50. is just to enable our Attorney to go to the Federal High
Court, West Africa so that the court will approve the documents.

Please, you are advised to buy a Sephora gift card, Apple card,Ebay
card, Razer gold card, Footlocker card, Amazon card, American express
card, Steam wallet Or Google play usa and send the copy of the card.

We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.

Director:Kamala Harris
I.M.F.(International Monetary Funds.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam