419 scam: "Mrs. Margaret Lewis."<bankimoun12@earthlink.net> Re: THANKS AND URGENT REPLY ASAP.

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "god-fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
This email message is a "dying widow" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Margaret Lewis." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <marlwis01@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:01:14 -0500
Subject: Re: THANKS AND URGENT REPLY ASAP.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Mrs. Margaret Lewis, the wife of Mr. Robert Lewis, both of us are citizens of the United States Of America. My husband worked with the Chevron/Texaco in Bangkok Thailand for twenty years before he died. We were married for ten years without a child. My Husband died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Presently, I'm in a hospital in Bangkok Thailand where I have being undergoing treatment for throat cancer i have since lost my ability to talk. I have a charitable offer the sum of US$16.4M. I want a person that is God-fearing who will use this money to fund churches, orphanages and widows propagating the word of God and to ensure that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that blessed is the hand that giveth.

Thanks and God bless you, I wait to receive your name,address,tel&fax# and I will send you the bank contact also forward your information to the bank.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Margaret Lewis.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam