Body
Date and Time First Identified
- February 19, 2025 at approximately 11:10am
Phishing Method
- Long email claiming to have funds ($13,800,000) to share with the recipient.
- The email tells an elaborate story of a businessman named Bruno A. McCaul who was the intended recipient of the funds, but he and his family were killed, and he didn't have any next of kin.
- The email creates a sense of urgency by claiming an immediate response is needed to prevent the funds from being reverted to the United States Department of the Treasury.
- The sender's display name is Benjamin Oliver, but their email is henry@narveetech.com
- All recipients of the email were BCC'd, a common pattern when attackers send similar attacks to many recipients.
User Response
- Do not reply to the message
- Mark the message as spam or junk
- Forward the message to phishing@dartmouth.edu
- Block the sender
Sample Unformatted Email
Subject: Dear friend
Dear Friend,
How are you today and your family? I want to believe you are all doing great. Let me start by introducing myself. I am Mr. Benjamin Oliver Branch Manager for Great American Bank. I got your contact through the International directory and I contacted you through a secured high email protocol service,am uncertain how your email address appeared in the International directory. I am pleased to have connected with you. These messages might come to you as a surprise, the most important thing is that its objective is made and communicated for this reason. The internet has been grossly abused by scam artists and miscreants who intend to hurt, in as much as one should not allow the negative to kill the positive potential in a realistic business.
I write you this proposal in good faith hoping that I will rely on you in a business transaction that requires absolute confidentiality and is of great interest and benefit to both our families, I want to ask for your partnership in getting back the money left behind by a customer Late Mr. Bruno. A. McCaul. If this will endanger your position and reputation, I would not have contacted you. This is safe and beneficial to both of us financially. I was his account officer before I rose to the position of Branch Manager of our bank here in Kansas, United States of America, please do not expose this transaction for any reason. I will give you more information about myself, our bank, and the transaction itself once you agree to do this with me.
Late Mr. Bruno. A. McCaul lived and worked in Kansas, United States of America As a businessman, investor, and director in an oil and gas company. He deposited in our bank the sum of Thirteen million, eight hundred thousand US Dollars (US$13,800,000.00) as a fixed deposit for two years in 2022. This deposit has matured and he hasn’t come for it since then. We have tried to reach him and sent all notifications to him and his telephone number cannot be reached, emails sent to him kept returning undelivered and we never got any response from the letters posted to his residential address. This issue prompted me to carry out an independent investigation about his whereabouts and I later found out that Mr. Bruno. A. McCaul and his family were shot dead sometime in December 2023 by criminals who robbed them while on vacation in the Bahamas. To verify the truth of the matter, I went to the Bahamas and confirmed he was dead, it is a sad story for a kind-hearted and generous person like him. This matter was not reported to our bank and nobody in our bank is aware of this except me.
After all investigation, it was also discovered that Mr. Bruno. A. McCaul did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paperwork of his bank deposit; all this made it impossible for me to locate any of his relatives. Since this is the issue, I want you to apply as the beneficiary of the deceased to claim the deposit from our bank. It does not matter if you have any relationship with the Late Mr. Bruno. A. McCaul or not, you do not have to worry about any reason, I will guide you all the way to make this claim. It is not a matter of being greedy or having bad morals, it is not best to leave the money to eventually end up in the hands of a few corrupt government officials while we have the opportunity to live better with it. This transaction is a risk-free transaction.
We will share the money in two equal parts (50:50) for each of us when the claim is made. Everything will be done successfully and legally, have no fear about this. Right now, I have all the copies of documents relating to the deposit he made that you will file to back up this claim. All I require is your sincerity and honest cooperation to enable us to make this claim successfully and we have to do this within the shortest time possible because the fund will be reverted to the United States Department of the Treasury account if not claimed now. If you are willing to do this with me, please write back and I shall direct you on what to do next to make sure you receive the funds. I want someone serious, not a joker. I am waiting for your consent to move to the next step toward getting the money.
My messages may be lengthy, but they are designed to ensure clarity regarding these funds. Once I receive your response, I will forward additional messages for your careful review. It's essential that we fully understand each other to successfully partner in achieving our goals.
I strongly advise that if you find this email message in your spam or junk inbox you are to move it to your inbox message.
Thank you and God bless you.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Benjamin Oliver.