419 scam: "Philip Douglas"<philipdouglas@aol.com> New Deal

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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:
- "trunk box" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Philip Douglas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <philipdouglas@excite.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:52:26 -0700
Subject: New Deal

A Very Good day To you
joy
My names are Barrister Philip Douglas of the Philip Douglas Law Firm LLC & Solicitors in London-United Kingdom .I actually got your contact information through the global public records while searching for a last name similar to my late client, a business magnate who lived in Spain for Thirteen years. He died along with his family on the 20th of August 2008 Spanair MD-82 Plane Crash, which crashed in Madrid Barajas Airport at 16:18 Mins.

Before i proceed further, I must first make an apology for this unsolicited mail to you, I am conscious that this is certainly not a predictable way of approach to foster a relationship of trust but because of the circumstances and urgency surrounding this claim I decided to reach you via this media to join me to put claims on this vault before it is seized or confiscated by the authorities, before the catastrophe, he deposited One Trunk Box containing the sum of $17.8M (SEVENTEEN MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS) with a Safe security company in Madrid-Spain and he did not disclose the exact content of deposited diplomatic box to the treasure house as cash but Personal valuables for security and personal reasons.

As the Confidential Attorney to my late client, the security company has mandated me to present a member of his family (heir/inheritor) to make Claims or else the Trunk Box containing the above indicated amount would be confiscated and taken to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security as unclaimed, I was given an ultimatum to look for some relatives to come for the claim or have the Trunk liquidated and made unserviceable in accordance with existing laws of Spain. After preliminary efforts of search for a direct family member which came to no avail, I decided to contact you in this regards since you bear the same late name with my deceased client.

My suggestion to you is that I will like to present you as the beneficiary to this vault, I know you may or may not be anyway related to my late client but having a common surname with him clearly indicates that the trunks would be released to you hitch free.

This transaction is 100% risk free as I have worked out all modalities to complete the operation effectively, once the diplomatic consignment is released to you, we shall divide the content in the ratio of 50% each. Kindly indicate your interest to this correspondence via either of the communication means as indicated above for further clarification. Revert back to me to as soon as the receipt of this setter is effectuated.

Yours in Service

Barrister Philip Douglas Esq,

For; Philip Douglas Law Firm

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam