419 scam: "Barrister Ibrahim James " <Barr_IbrahimJames@hyper.ocn.ne.jp> Good Day Dear Sir/Madam, I need your urgent Assistant

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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)
- "huge deposit" (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)
- "million 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)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "cotonou" (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: "Barrister Ibrahim James " <Barr_IbrahimJames@hyper.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Barrister Ibrahim James " <barr_jamesibrahim1@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2015 00:46:09 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Good Day Dear Sir/Madam, I need your urgent Assistant

Dear Sir/Madam,greetings,

I am BARRISTER IBRAHIM JAMES from Cotonou, Benin-Republic western sub Sahara west Africa, Advocate at Law (SA)

Pardon me for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before making you this offer and it is utterly confidential and genuine by virtue of its nature. I am the personal Lawyer to Late Bruce McMillan a citizen of U.S.A, Working in an oil servicing company ,Nigeria referred to as my client On April 3rd 2012. my client, his wife, and their two children were involved in a car accident along Cotonou express way Benin-Republic. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives.

Since then I have made several inquiries to the embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you to assist in repatriating the money my late client left behind before they Get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Bank where this huge deposits were lodged, particularly the BOA(BANK OF AFRICA) Benin-Republic LIMITED Where the deceased had an escrow suspense contract account Valued at about(US$5.5million dollars).

The bank of Africa has Issued me a notice to provide the Next of Kin Or have the account confiscated within the next ten official working days Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 3 years now, Due to this notice from the bank I decide to seek your consent to Present you as the Next Of Kin of the deceased, So that this account valued at (US$5.5 million dollars) can be paid to you and then You and Me Can share the money, 55% to Me and 40% to You while 5% for any expenses. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and me from any breach of the law.you can write to ( barr_jamesibrahim1@hotmail. com ) for more details.

Yours sincerely,
Barrister James Ibrahim

Anti-fraud resources:

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