419 scam: "Barrister Thomas Okon"<okonokonokon2@gmail.com> confidant

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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "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 Thomas Okon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <otom299@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 01:53:15 -0700
Subject: confidant

Dear Sir/Ma,

I am Barrister Thomas okon An Attorney to Late Susan Horder from Queensland who happens to be my client but lost her life in the Malaysia MH17 Airline flight that crash in Ukraine.

My client Late Susan Horder deposited the sum of $22m Usd in a Finance Company before her death and i have cross check all her files and she did not make any will before she died, I will like you to provide immediately your full names and address so that i will prepare the necessary documents which will place you as her next of kin so that we can claim this funds from the Finance Company.

We are going to share the money in ratio of 60% for me and 35% for you and 5% will take care of all expenses incurred on both side.

All these are to make sure that the fruits of this woman's labor will not
get into the hands of bad people.

There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this transaction will be done
by me and this will guarantee the successful execution of this
transaction.

if you are interested, pleas reply immediately via my email address,as soon as
i got your response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand the transaction.

Please observe with utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this
transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall require
your assistance to invest my share in your country.

Hoping to hear from you.

REGARDS,
BARRISTER THOMAS OKON

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam