419 scam: VICTOR CHIMEZIE <victor----chimezie@att.net> Dear Friend,

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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "can i completely trust you?" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your humble assistance" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: VICTOR CHIMEZIE <victor----chimezie@att.net>
Reply-To: vc56@live.co.uk
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:44:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Dear Friend,

Victor Chimezie & Co.
Barrister Victor Chimezie
Advocates and Solicitors
Nigerian Main Office
No 7 Allen Avenue Ikeja
Lagos Nigeria

Dear Friend,

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family? I am very sorry for the informal manner in which this letter is reaching you as it was necessitated by my urgent need to get your response. I am Barrister Victor Chimezie from Nigeria, an Attorney at law.

I am an attorney to Late Mr. Scott, a citizen of your country, who was a contractor with Shell Nigeria Ltd; Mr. Scott was born in 1951 and died as a result of a heart-related condition on the 12th July, 2007.

I got your contact through my private search and out of Desperation I decided to reach you through this medium. Late Mr. Scott, deposited $16,842,000 million United State Dollars in a bank here in Nigeria, Mr. Scott divorce his wife in the year 2000 and refuse to re-marry until 2005 when his only child, Marcia dead of leg cancer, then Mr. Scott married to an Indian-Malay woman who was not able to give him a child.

After the death of Mr. Scott, i presented the will to his wife and after going through the will i discovered that was no mention of this deposit which he gave me a copy of the document, then i decided to verify the existence of the deposit and found out that the fund is still intact, then i started monitoring the deposit until this time, nobody has come for the claim of the fund.

Now i want to claim this fund and invest it outside my country, the need to move out this money arose when it was announce that some of the money held in dormant accounts for years without claim would be used for youth and community projects. I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regard. To present you as the beneficiary of fund and back you up with all the original documents to enable us have a successful claim.

Now permit me to ask these few

questions:-
(1) Can I completely trust you?
(2) I am ready to offer you 40% of this (16,842,000) I hope it is acceptable by you? And I will take 55% and have 5% set aside for all the expenses doing the process of the transaction.

My dear, I honestly know that the process of this transaction will cost money, and that is the reason why Iâ€™m ready to offer you 40% of the total sun, which will be for your role and contribution towards this transaction.

I will like us to work collectively as one partner with good understanding and trust to see the transaction through successfully.

Please, consider this and get back to me as soon as possible for more details.

Looking forward to your urgent response,

Yours Faithfully,
Barrister Victor Chimezie,
Principal Attorney

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam