419 scam: Stella John <stella_john11@yahoo.co.jp> From Mrs. Stella John

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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:
- "million united states 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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a "dying widow" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: Stella John <stella_john11@yahoo.co.jp>
Reply-To: stellaj1@ymail.com
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 17:02:14 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: From Mrs. Stella John

From Mrs. Stella John

dearly beloved,

Greetings in the name of our lord Jesus Christ.

I am Mrs. Stella John

a widow to late Mr. Benson John. I am 59 years old. I am now a new Christian convert suffering from long time cancer of the breast.

From all indications, my conditions are really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that I may not live more long according to my doctors. This is because the caner stage has gotten to a very bad stage. My late husband died last five years, and during the period of our marriage, we could not produce any child.

My late husband was very wealthy and after his death, I inherited all his business and wealth. The doctors have advised me that I may not live for more than five months. So, I now decided to divide the part of this wealth to contribute to the development of the church in Africa, America , Asia, and Europe . I selected you after visiting the website and I prayed over it. I am willing to donate the sum of us$5, 500.000.00(five million United States dollars) to the less privileged. please, I want you to note that the money is deposited in Abidjan, ivory coast where my late husband had some of his business investments mostly on cocoa because ivory coast id the world's greatest producer of cocoa. Ivory Coast also is colonial child of France .

When I hear from you, I will forward to you all the information you will use to get this fund transferred in your country. I honestly pray that this money when transferred to your country and it will be used for the said purpose because I have come to find out that wealth acquisition without Christ is vanity. May the grace of our lord Jesus, the love of god and the fellowship of Holy Spirit be with you and your family.

I await your urgent reply.
Your sister,
Mrs. Stella John

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