"Next of Kin" scam
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 5:56 am
Hi! Newbie here. Here is my first effort at pranking scammers. It's not a long one when compared to some of the stuff I've read here, but hopefully it is a good one. The scammer's e-mails are in blue, while my responses are in red (with one note from me to you guys in black partway down to help put one of my responses into a bit of context).
From: SR. ISAAH <[email protected]>
Subject: REPLY NOW
I am compelled to write you this email for reasons of great business importance. I Agent/Solicitor of I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners personal attorney to Late James,who left some large amount of money (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) with the Access Bank here before his death in 2015.
As his personal attorney, I have made several inquiries as directed by the bank with a view to locating any member of his immediate or extended relatives so as to present him/her as the Next of Kin and be neficiary of my late client and of course claim his entitlement. And unfortunately; I have been unsuccessfully in all my efforts at trying to locate any member of his family. For this reason i have decided to trace his last name,hence I contacted you so that the process of claim of the fund deposited by my late client can be handed over to you;I got your contact from an International Journal during my search for this above mentioned issues.
Please note that the fund shall be divided 50/50 between you and I;once it gets into your account; according to my plan;Your earliest response to this email will be highly appreciated, Do get back to me as I will not contact anyone till l read from you. if you are not interested do let me know by replying to me.
Regards
Isaah Mohammed
Barrister at Law
I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners
Address:No 3 Marina Road,Lagos Island
Email: [email protected]
*****
Sir, I am indeed related to Mr. Late James. While it is rather a bit distantly as far as relations go, I am probably the closest relative that is still alive. He did not come from a large immediate family to begin with and to the best of my knowledge all other closer relatives have long since passed on. Though it has been many years since we had last spoken, I am saddened to learn of his passing.I look forward to hearing from you on the instructions needed on how to proceed with the handling of Late's estate.
Personally, while I think the 50/50 split is a bit much in providing you with compensation for your work, I acknowledge that there was no small amount of work in having been his attorney and handling the management of his estate, as well as there being no small amount of effort involved in tracking me down.
*****
Thanks for your response. This is legal and all I need from you is your trust and honesty that after these fund is being transferred to your bank account, you will definitely send to me my own share of the fund as agreed to share with you 50/50.
The bank has assured me that as soon as they open communication with you, it will take 5 banking working days to get your inheritance fund released and transferred to your account.
Do forward immediately your full contact details as stated below.
Your Contact Address:
Your Contact Phone Number:
Your Age/Occupation:
Upon confirmation of the above stated details, I will submit same to the bank as the next of kin and beneficiary to the fund deposited with the bank.
I will also provide you with the contact details of the bank to open communication with them to commence the transfer process.
Your urgent response will be highly appreciated.
Regards
Isaah Mohammed
Barrister at Law
I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners
Address:No 3 Marina Road,Lagos Island
*****
Contact address:
[Removed - B8er]
Contact phone number:
[Removed - B8er]
Age: 47
Occupation: senior analyst, cybercrimes division, United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (Norfolk, Virginia branch)
*****
Now, as a side note, I do not actually work for the FBI, and while the address and phone number listed are valid, they are actually the listed info for the Norfolk, Virginia filed office of the FBI, as publicly listed on their website (as a note to the mods: if you feel it appropriate to remove said contact info, even though the FBI has made it public on their website, I do understand). After a week of not hearing back from the guy, I did send one final e-mail to him (though I still have yet to hear from him):
*****
Sir, it has been a week now, and I have yet to hear from either you or the bank where Late's money is currently located. I hope that everything is all right, though I am beginning to fear the worst here. I hope that my fears are unfounded, but I have recently learned that Late's money may have come from extorting the Russian mafia (yes, those same guys who interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election), and I have recently obtained evidence that they may be responsible for Late's apparently untimely death. I'm beginning to fear that they have gotten to you in an attempt to get their money back, and that they may be coming after me next. Getting Late's money freed up and transferred into our respective bank accounts would certainly help us both in being able to go into hiding.
If I do not hear from you soon, I may have to ask some contacts I have within the United States Central Intelligence Agency that are currently stationed in Lagos Island to check on your well-being. I certainly hope that things have not gotten so bad that I shall have to resort to that particular method, though. I hope that I will hear back from you soon.
From: SR. ISAAH <[email protected]>
Subject: REPLY NOW
I am compelled to write you this email for reasons of great business importance. I Agent/Solicitor of I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners personal attorney to Late James,who left some large amount of money (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) with the Access Bank here before his death in 2015.
As his personal attorney, I have made several inquiries as directed by the bank with a view to locating any member of his immediate or extended relatives so as to present him/her as the Next of Kin and be neficiary of my late client and of course claim his entitlement. And unfortunately; I have been unsuccessfully in all my efforts at trying to locate any member of his family. For this reason i have decided to trace his last name,hence I contacted you so that the process of claim of the fund deposited by my late client can be handed over to you;I got your contact from an International Journal during my search for this above mentioned issues.
Please note that the fund shall be divided 50/50 between you and I;once it gets into your account; according to my plan;Your earliest response to this email will be highly appreciated, Do get back to me as I will not contact anyone till l read from you. if you are not interested do let me know by replying to me.
Regards
Isaah Mohammed
Barrister at Law
I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners
Address:No 3 Marina Road,Lagos Island
Email: [email protected]
*****
Sir, I am indeed related to Mr. Late James. While it is rather a bit distantly as far as relations go, I am probably the closest relative that is still alive. He did not come from a large immediate family to begin with and to the best of my knowledge all other closer relatives have long since passed on. Though it has been many years since we had last spoken, I am saddened to learn of his passing.I look forward to hearing from you on the instructions needed on how to proceed with the handling of Late's estate.
Personally, while I think the 50/50 split is a bit much in providing you with compensation for your work, I acknowledge that there was no small amount of work in having been his attorney and handling the management of his estate, as well as there being no small amount of effort involved in tracking me down.
*****
Thanks for your response. This is legal and all I need from you is your trust and honesty that after these fund is being transferred to your bank account, you will definitely send to me my own share of the fund as agreed to share with you 50/50.
The bank has assured me that as soon as they open communication with you, it will take 5 banking working days to get your inheritance fund released and transferred to your account.
Do forward immediately your full contact details as stated below.
Your Contact Address:
Your Contact Phone Number:
Your Age/Occupation:
Upon confirmation of the above stated details, I will submit same to the bank as the next of kin and beneficiary to the fund deposited with the bank.
I will also provide you with the contact details of the bank to open communication with them to commence the transfer process.
Your urgent response will be highly appreciated.
Regards
Isaah Mohammed
Barrister at Law
I.Mohammed Chambers & Partners
Address:No 3 Marina Road,Lagos Island
*****
Contact address:
[Removed - B8er]
Contact phone number:
[Removed - B8er]
Age: 47
Occupation: senior analyst, cybercrimes division, United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (Norfolk, Virginia branch)
*****
Now, as a side note, I do not actually work for the FBI, and while the address and phone number listed are valid, they are actually the listed info for the Norfolk, Virginia filed office of the FBI, as publicly listed on their website (as a note to the mods: if you feel it appropriate to remove said contact info, even though the FBI has made it public on their website, I do understand). After a week of not hearing back from the guy, I did send one final e-mail to him (though I still have yet to hear from him):
*****
Sir, it has been a week now, and I have yet to hear from either you or the bank where Late's money is currently located. I hope that everything is all right, though I am beginning to fear the worst here. I hope that my fears are unfounded, but I have recently learned that Late's money may have come from extorting the Russian mafia (yes, those same guys who interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election), and I have recently obtained evidence that they may be responsible for Late's apparently untimely death. I'm beginning to fear that they have gotten to you in an attempt to get their money back, and that they may be coming after me next. Getting Late's money freed up and transferred into our respective bank accounts would certainly help us both in being able to go into hiding.
If I do not hear from you soon, I may have to ask some contacts I have within the United States Central Intelligence Agency that are currently stationed in Lagos Island to check on your well-being. I certainly hope that things have not gotten so bad that I shall have to resort to that particular method, though. I hope that I will hear back from you soon.