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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Monica Joseph" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <monicajoseph@monicajoseph.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2014 12:00:07 +0100
Subject: Dearly Beloved

Dearly Beloved,

An British Citizen, Mrs. Monica Joseph a missionary born in London.

I am Mrs. Monica Joseph from England, I was married to late Mr. Patrick Joseph the CEO of PATRIARCH Oil Mining & Exploration, I am 69 years old,I am suffering from a long time cancer of the breast which has affected my talking & hearing lately. The cancer has reached a critical stage, so my doctors have courageously advised me to indulge in Prayers as well because it is clear that I would not live past the next two to three months. I was raised in an orphanage Home, and was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child.

Pls let this not sound strange to you for my only surviving lawyer who would have done this died early this year

My husband and I are true Christians so after his death I decided not to re-marry, he died in a fatal motor accident which I know is political motivated because of his venture in the new oil industry. I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of 2,300,000.00Gbp (Two Million Three Hundred thousand British Pounds) with a Bank. Presently, the money is still with the bank, and I received a letter from the management of the holding bank as the real depositor urging me to come forward to receive the money after keeping it for such a long or rather issue a letter of approval or power of attorney to somebody to receive it on my behalf or the management will confiscate the funds.

Frankly, I cannot come over as a result of my illness; I'm with my laptop in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only a few months to live.

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested in any Charitable Organization of your choice and distributed each year among the Charity organizations and Orphanages, so I want a good humanitarian to use this money to fund Churches, Needy and Widows in your Country and any country of your choice. I must let you know that this was a very hard decision, but I had to take a bold step towards this issue, and I hope you will help see my last wishes come true.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall use the little money I have for my drugs and Medi-care to procure and issue you a letter of authority which will prove that you are the new beneficiary of my funds and I shall release the contact of the Bank to you.

Please take this serious and Get back to me because you are not expected to pay any unnecessary fees to get this Fund.But if you must pay any fees,i must assist you financially too.

Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein. I hope to hear from you soonest if you are willing to handle this project

Yours in Christ,
Mrs Monica Joseph.

Please get back to me in this email address { monica@monicajoseph.com}

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