419 scam: "Barrister Steve Richardson"<philchime2012@gmail.com> URGENT AND CONFINDENTIAL

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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: "Barrister Steve Richardson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barrrichardson@qq.com>
Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 11:27:42 +0200
Subject: URGENT AND CONFINDENTIAL

STEVE RICHARDSON & ASSOCIATES

Advocates – At –Law, Acting Solicitors,

Notary Public, General Legal

Practitioner, Conveyances, Commercial Law,

Admiralty, Trust, Civil Litigation,

Personal Injuries, Wills, Property Transaction

First Floor, West Wing, Teachers' Hall Annex,

4 Barnes Close, Education Loop Accra,Ghana

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Barrister Steve Richardson, A solicitor and an Advocate of the supreme

court of Ghana; I worked as a personal Attorney to late Mr. Zulfiqar Ahmed Malik, an

expatriate, who was a consultant with GOLD ASSOCIATION OF GHana and a dealer on Gold.

He died on April 21st, 2009. Since then I have made several inquiries as to locate

any of his extended relatives, but all proved abortive. After several unsuccessful

attempts, hence I decided to contact you. I am contacting you to assist in retrieving

the m o n e y valued at ( U S D 2 5 . 5 M) that was left behind by my client

(Zulfiqar Ahmed Malik) with the UTC B A N K Accra Ghana before it declared

unserviceable account and be confiscated by the b a n k

Your strong assurance and confidentiality is highly needed.

HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU ASAP

Best regards,

BARR. STEVE RICHARDSON

(ATTORNEY)

Tel: +233 230 236 972.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam