|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Cristy Watson <mrscristywats0n@box.az>
Reply-To: mrs_cristywatson@ozu.es
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:56:01 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Goodness Of God Will Be Upon You.
Apostolic Greetings !!!,
God
will grant you the willingness and interest to digest this humble
narrations though it might be so surprise and strange to believe my
story but i knew by the reason of the almighty you will humbly
understood and accept to proceed with my proposal though we have not
met or seen each other before.
My name is Mrs.Cristy Watson a
widow to Mr. Carbry Watson who was a competent business man here in
Abidjan Cote d'ivoire , we were married for many yrs without any child
till his death in October 2005 after a brief illness. Due to the
promise which i revered to him on the alter at the day of our church
wedding i decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial
home which is against the holy bible.
My
happiness is that my late husband lived a life of a true & worthy
Christian and he has this plan before his death which he pleaded with
me to appropriate it to accomplishment. He took this decision with me
to use this fund in building an orphanage in his name that will
accommodate thousand's of children, and also to use part of this fund
in helping the less fortunate and to spread the gospel of the lord to
the remote places of the world.
He made this deposit of $( 2.7
Million )USD Two million Seven hundred thousand in a Finance Security
Company here in Abidjan . Recently, my Doctor told me that i would not
last for the next 5 months due to cancer & stroke illness.
Having
known my condition i decided to seek for a competent and reliable God
fearing person or church to entrust this fund to utilize this fund the
way i narrated above as my late husband desired.
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 late husband's relatives are not Christians and I don't want my
late husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers.
I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death
hence i know where i am going. I don't need any telephone communication
in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband's
relatives are around me always. i don't want them to know about this
development.
As soon as i receive your reply i shall give you
the relevant documents that will legalize you to have access over this
fund. I will also issue you an affidavit that will proove you the
present beneficiary of this fund in the Finance Security Company. I
want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my
shepherd.
My happiness is that i and my late husband lived a
life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that Wants to serve the Lord must
serve him in spirit and Truth.
Please always be prayerful all
through your life and pray to God to forgive me my sins. Contact me on
my private email bellow, any delay in your reply will give me room in
sourcing for another church or a God fearing person for this same
purpose.
Please assure me that you will act accordingly as i stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply.
Your's Sister In Christ,
Mrs.Cristy Watson.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
