419 scam: "Mr. James W. Owens" <info@lawfirm.com> Good 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)
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. James W. Owens" <info@lawfirm.com>
Reply-To: msbltd20@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2016 09:57:16 +0100
Subject: Good day

--
Greetings dear friend;

I am Mr. James W. Owens, and a personal Accountant working with Morgan
Stanley Bank Limited (UK Office). It is with good spirit of heart I
opened up this great opportunity to you. A deceased client of mine that
shares the same last name as yours died as a result of heart-related
condition on March 12th 2005. His heart condition was due to the death
of all the members of his family in the tsunami disaster on the 26th
December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia where they all lost their lives. More
info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami

There is a draft account opened in my bank in 1999 by a long-time client
of our bank, a national of your country. He was a CEO/Engineer and
business man here in United Kingdom, before he passed away on the March
12th 2005, leaving nobody as the next of kin of his account after his
death.

The amount in this account is currently $87, 386, 450.00 (Eighty Seven
Million Three Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand Four Hundred and Fifty
United states Dollars only). I want to present you as the beneficiary of
the deceased. I will use my position and influence in our bank to make
sure they release this money to you for us to share. If I wait for days
and if I do not hear from you, I shall look for another person who is
willing to work with me. I will give you more information about this as
soon as i hear back from you.

Kindly get back to me for more details.

With Best Regards
Mr. James W. Owens

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam