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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: "Sheila" <sheila102@yahoo.es>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 19:02:06 +0300
Subject: Pls,be honest with me.

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 & his mercies and glory upon my life.

I am Mrs.Sheila Johnson the wife of Mr Harold Johnson,my husband worked
with the Chevron/Texaco in Kenya for twenty
years before he died in the year2001.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 anywhere in the World.Because relatives and friends have
plundered so much of my wealth since my 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's 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 VS14}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 my attorney
who is in Europe as he will be the one to assist you in laying
claims for this funds.

Kindly send your reply to my private email address which is as follows:
sheila101j@yahoo.es

Your Sister in Christ,

Mrs.Sheila Johnson.

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