I have lost track of when I was first contacted by Mrs (I assume it's Mrs) Frances Connolly. Over, perhaps, 15 or more years, she has written often. 

It's a good Irish Catholic name, so it's trustworthy. 

There have been many "from" addresses and many free and anonymous email addresses to which replies are directed. 

Mrs Connolly is a specialist in giving away other people's money. Over the years she has made carefully explained offers to receive money from a wide variety of organisations, often in some form of lottery. 

The latest email is more forthright, almost brutal in its simplicity and in getting to the point.

With a fake "from address" she invites victims to reply to, almost inevitably, a gmail address - fc0293331@gmail.com  .  We've seen addresses starting in "fc" before. 

The email consists of the following:

*Your email account has been selected for a donation of £3,700,000.00. 
Contact me for more information*
*
*

The asterisks are to make the text appear in bold, creating the image of urgency. 

And that's it. There is no hidden HTML, no link to click, no overt request for money or even a form to fill in giving all kinds of details. 

So why is this one different? 

It's stepping back from the forceful demands for information backed with a ridiculous promise. It's not asking for a phone number - that will, no doubt come later. 

It's clever: all it does is to make the victim ask "why?" quickly followed by "why not."

At that point, it's not exactly game over but it is advantage fraudster.