419 scam: "Barr. Philip Obioma." <wama.account_app@hotmail.com> Re: I'm Ready to Help You now

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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)
- "fund beneficiary" (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)
- "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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Barr. Philip Obioma." <wama.account_app@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <philip.obioma@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 05:27:14 -0700
Subject: Re: I'm Ready to Help You now

Dear Friend,
As the fund beneficiary, I decided to contact you to offer my personal assistance to secure the release of your contract fund with the federal government of Nigeria for our mutual benefit. I am from the Ugoni Kingdom in Rivers State where the contract was executed many years ago in the Crude oil Refinery.
Based on the information gathered from reliable bank officials who revealed that you have been waiting for a long time to receive this fund, and I also found out that you have almost met all the statutory requirements of the bank and numerous government agencies in respect of your payment but your problem is that of interest group.
Therefore, I am ready to help you work out the release of this fund, after going through the record files regarding overdue contract sum of US$18.5million which is yet to be paid to the real beneficiary, it was revealed that those people whom you trusted to be officials from here in Nigeria had been the ones working against you over the release of this inheritance fund.
However, I will help you to arrange for the payment from here and you will agree to share with me upon the successful transfer of this fund into your account or anywhere you desire. If you are willing, let me hear from you as soon as possible for more details on what to do immediately to share this great opportunity with you for future investment.
With my sincere heart, I write this message to you this day; we are aware of what you have been going through concerning the release of this fund in the hands of the bank officials. Please, do not disregard this contact from me this morning.
Yours truly,
Barr. Philip Obioma.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam