419 scam: "Barr Dave Smith"<barrdavesmith111@mail.com> Good Day, Treat as Urgent.

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "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.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- barr_davesmith222@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Barr Dave Smith" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barr_davesmith222@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 14:18:13 +0100
Subject: Good Day, Treat as Urgent.

Good Day, Treat as Urgent. I am Barrister Dave Smith, with {Smith & Associate} I must solicit your confidence in this transaction; this is by virtue of the nature as being utterly confidential. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and overwhelmed, but I am assuring you that all will be well. The project I am presenting to you is a case of my late client who willed $12.9 million to his next-of-kin. It was most unfortunate that himself and his next-of-kin died on the same day in an auto-crash. I am now faced with indecision about who to pass the funds to. This email might come as a surprise to you, since there was no previous correspondence between us. My purpose of contacting you is for you to help secure the funds left behind by my late client, to avoid it being confiscated or declared unclaimed by the financial institution. The financial institution has issued me a notice to contact the existing relative less the account will be declared unclaimed and the fund's diverted to the financial institution's treasury. So far, all my efforts to get hold of someone related to my late client has proved abortive. I am actually asking for your Consent to present you to the financial institution as the Next of Kin/beneficiary of my late client's fund, so that the proceeds of this will be released to you. I shall provide all the documents to back up the claim as my client's Next of Kin. All I require is your honest co-operation and commitment to enable us achieve this transaction. I wish to point out that I want 10% of this money to be shared among charity Organizations, while the remaining 90% would be shared equally between us. This transaction is entirely risk free. I will use my position as the client’s attorney to guarantee the successful execution of this transaction. Please contact me via this E-mail:{barr_davesmith222@yahoo.com} upon your positive response. I will provide you with further details and relevant documents that will help you understand this transaction. Warm Regards, Barrister Dave Smith.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam