419 scam: Isaiah Mohammed <joel.nl35@gmail.com> Dear: Sir/Madam

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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: Isaiah Mohammed <joel.nl35@gmail.com>
Reply-To: isaiah.m88@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2016 12:01:05 +0100
Subject: Dear: Sir/Madam

My name is Barrister Isaiah Mohammed a legal counsel from Nigeria. I seek
your cooperation to present you as an heir and a foreigner to my deceased
client for his bank to release his estate to you then we can share the
amount on a mutually agreed-upon percentage. I am contacting you to stand
as Next of Kin of the deceased because we are forbidden to operate a
foreign account.

He was a wealthy business man in Nigeria who he has a huge amount of Money
in his account. He died without any registered Next of Kin as he was a
divorcee and had no child. Note that it is not compulsory that the heir
must be a blood relation to the deceased, and no DNA TEST will be conducted
An heir could be anybody, Friends, Church, School or Organization etc.

I advertised this issue but no one has turned up for this period prompting
me to write this letter to you as a last resort to avoid the money from
being taken by the state,this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect both of us from any breach of the law. If you
agree to work with me and we keep this matter confidential then get back to
me so that we begin the process of this transaction, if this business
proposition offends your moral values do accept my apology.

Thank you,

Barrister Isaiah Mohammed

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam