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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "melissa pointer" <mrsmelissa2@msn.com>
Reply-To: melissacaresfoundation@yahoo.co.in
Date: Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:35:47 +0000
Subject: Beloved

Dearly Beloved in Christ,


It is by the grace of God that I received Christ,Having known the truth, I
had no choice than to do what is lawful and right in the sight of God
for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of God?s mercy and
glory upon my life.

I am Mrs Melissa Pointer the wife of Mr Harry Pointer, my husband worked
with the Chevron/Texaco in Kenya for twenty years before he died in the
year 2001.We were married for ten years without a child. My Husband died
after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we
were both born again Christians.

Since his death I decided not to re-marry or get a child outside my
matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive
he deposited the sum of US $3.5M. (Three Million Five Hundred Thousand
U.S. Dollars) with a Bank in Europe. Presently, this money is still with
the Bank and the management just wrote me as the beneficiary to come
forward to sign for the release of this money or rather issue a letter of
authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf if I can not come
over.Presently, I'm in a hospital in Kenya where I have been undergoing
treatment for esophageal cancer. I have since lost my ability to talk and
my doctors have told me that I have only a few weeks to live. It is my
last wish to see this money distributed to charity organizations any
where in the World. Because relatives and friends have plundered so much
of my wealth sincemy illness, I cannot live with the agony of entrusting
this huge responsibility to any of them. Please, I beg you in the name of
God to help me Stand and collect the Funds from the Bank.I want a person
that is God fearing that 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.I took this decision because I don't have any child that
will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I
don't want my husband's hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers. I
don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner.

Hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death
hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom
of the Lord.Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight my case and I
shall hold my peace. I don't need any telephone communication in this
regard because of my soundless voice and presence of my husband's relatives
around me always. I don't want them to know about this development. With
God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give
you the contact of Attorney who is in Europe as he will be the one to
assist you in laying claims for this funds.

Please send Your Responses to :melissacaresfoundation@msn.com

Yours in Christ,

Melissa Pointer.


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