419 scam: BARRISTER RICHARD FERDINAND <mercywilliams228@gmail.com> HAVE A NICE DAY

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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)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "barrister" (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 RICHARD FERDINAND <mercywilliams228@gmail.com>
Reply-To: barr.richardferdinand@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 06:28:20 +0100
Subject: HAVE A NICE DAY

Dear Friend,

How are you and your family? I hope all is well? i am very much happy and
delighted to send you this message, as It might be a surprise to you
reading from me now.I am BARRISTER RICHARD FERDINAND, a legal practitioner
from Republic of Nigeria.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't have been contacting you, but for the simple
fact that I am looking for the possible beneficiary to the deposited
funds of my deceased/late client, whose unclaimed deposits in a finance
firm valued, the sum of ten million, five hundred thousand United State
Dollars. USD ($10.5 Million) left in fixed / suspense account in one of the
prime bank.

Due to you bear the same sure-name with my deceased/late client that is the
reason why i am contacting you to stand as a legitimate next of kin and
make sure we join hand together to enable transfer the money to your
account without any delay.

Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Best Regards,

BARRISTER RICHARD FERDINAND
(ESQ)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam