419 scam: "Mrs. Vera Mathieu" <off_info23@verizon.net> Re: Attn: Beloved, Receive my money for work of God and also help the poor

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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:
- "the consignment" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "calvary greetings" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447045707355 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Vera Mathieu" <off_info23@verizon.net>
Reply-To: mrs.varamath1@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:04:40 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Attn: Beloved, Receive my money for work of God and also help the poor

Attention: My Beloved,
Calvary greetings in the name of our Almighty God, I am Mrs. Vera Mathieu, a widow to Late (Amposta Mathieu) we are from Switzerland live in London, United Kingdom, we own Treasure Art Incorporated and Treasure Crude Oil Marketers. I am 69 years old, I am now a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of the breast. From all indications, my condition is serious, according to my doctor it is quite obvious that I may not survive the sickness.

My late husband and my only son died in the crash of Swissair Flight 111 on the 7th, of September 1998. I have been living alone since then. Almighty God is my comforter. My late husband was very wealthy we have a lot of properties including Shares and houses. After the death of my husband, I made up my mind to do the work of God as a missionary. I called our lawyer and I instructed him to sell all my husband properties and shares to enable me raise some money to continue my mission.

The lawyer sold the Shares and some of the properties and I was able to raise the sum of (21MILLION DOLLARS). The fund is in cash, I packaged the fund in consignments deposited with a Security Company. Now that my sickness has gone to this stage, I am scared and I want the fund to be used for the work of God all over the world.

View the link below for details about the death
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/index.html

I have prayed and I told God to direct me to an honest PERSON who will receive this fund and utilize it for things that will glorify the name of God and also help the motherless babies and widows, this money will be release to Christians or a muslem provided you can make use of it. After my prayers, I searched your site in the internet, I found your email address and I decided to contact you.
If you are interested in using this fund for the work of God, please send to me your full names, address, telephone number and age to enable me give it to the security company for immediate arrangement on how the consignments that contained the fund will be release to you.

NOTE: You can contact the security company where the fund is deposited on this number to confirm the payment Tele (+447045707355) Fax (+447005964122) Contact the Manager Dr. Smith Gold. I await your urgent reply.

Most sincerely,
Mrs. Vera Mathieu.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam