419 scam: "Dr. William Richards," <dr.williamrichards@hotmail.com> Hello good friend,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "necessary legal documents" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "greater london" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million british pounds" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447024095336 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- dr.williamrichards1@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Dr. William Richards," <dr.williamrichards@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: dr.williamrichards11@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:52:12 +1200 (NZST)
Subject: Hello good friend,

Dr. William Richards
Chief Financial Director
UBS-INVESTMENT BANK
1 FINSBURY AVENUE,
LONDON, EC2M 2PP
Tel:+447024095336

Hello good friend,

I am Dr. William Richards the Chief Financial Director of UBS-INVESTMENT BANK, 1 FINSBURY AVENUE, LONDON, EC2M 2PP. I contacted you as regards to a business proposal that will be of an immense benefit to both of us and the less privileged ones. Being the manager accounting / audit department Greater London Regional office I discovered a sum of 16,500,000.00 GBP (Sixteen Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling) in an account belonging to one of our foreign customers Late Mr. Moses Saba Masri. He was a Jewish business mogul from Mexico that died on a helicopter crash early this year. Mr. Saba was 47-years-old when both his wife, his only son Avraham (Albert) and his daughter-in-law died in a helicopter crash.

You can get more informationâ€™s as regards to the crash and the death of our late customer Mr. Moses Saba on the website address below.

(http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3832556,00.html?).

The choice of contacting you aroused from the geographical nature of where you live particularly due to the sensitivity of the transaction and the confidentiality herein. Now our bank has been waiting for any of the relatives to come-up for the claim of the inheritance fund but unfortunately all efforts has being void. I personally have been unsuccessful in locating neither the relatives nor any next of kin to Mr. Saba. On this regards, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin / will beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at 16.5 Million British Pounds can be paid to you.

This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages 60% to me and 40% to you. I have secured all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up this claim we are about to make. All I need is to upload your names to the documents and legalize at the British High Court in order to prove you the legitimate beneficiary. All I require now is your honest co-operation; confidentiality and trust to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee you 100 % success and that this business transaction will be executed under the ambit of law and will protect you from any breach of the contract..

Please provide me the following as we have 7 working days to run it through:

1. Your full name:
2. Telephone number:
3. Contact address:
4. Age:
5. Gender:
6. Occupation:

Having gone through a methodical search, I decided to contact you hoping that you will find this proposal interesting. Please on your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest I will furnish you with more informationâ€™s. Contact me via this Email: dr.williamrichards1@hotmail.com

Best Regards,
Dr. William Richards
+447024095336

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam