419 scam: "Mrs.Martha Wilcox" <marthawilcox3@gmail.com> MY LAST WILL.....

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "certificate fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "demurrage " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "clearance certificate" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "are expected to pay " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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.
- +447024056690 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- tomhagen328@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs.Martha Wilcox" <marthawilcox3@gmail.com>
Reply-To: tomhagen328@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:36:51 +0100
Subject: MY LAST WILL.....

Greetings,

I am sure this mail would be coming to you as a surprise since we have
never met before and you would also be asking why I have decided to
choose you amongst the numerous internet users in the world, precisely
I cannot say why I have chosen you but do not worry for I come in
peace and something very positive is about to happen to your life
right now and to the lives of others through you if only you can
carefully read and digest the message below.

Before I move further, permit me to give you a little of my biography,
I am Mrs.Martha Wilcox, 82 Years old and the wife of Late Sir Wilcox
Alex a dual citizen of United States and Britain who died with our
only daughter Petra in a Plane crash on Monday the 7th of September
1998 GMT 14:22 UK while they were flying from New York to Geneva.
Please see website below for more information.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/index.html

After the death of my husband I became the Head of his investment and
now that I am old and weak I have decided to spend the rest of my life
in my estate before i finally leave the world, but before the death of
my husband we had a plan to use the last days of our lives to donate
part of what we have worked for to the less privilege and charity
homes and the other part for ourselves, family members and close
friends, and it is so unfortunate that my husband is not alive today
to do this with me and I am very weak and old now, hence I have
decided to do this philanthropic work on behalf of my late husband.

Presently, I have willed out almost half of our assets to several
charity homes and to some of the less privilege in different
countries. Despite the agreement between my late husband and I to give
aid to the deprived, we also agreed to render support to an individual
we have never met due to the fact that when we were young,we received
an anonymous help from an individual we did not know and we have not
being able to know this individual till date, the impact we got from
such gesture made us to do same.

I am sorry to inform you that you may never have the chance to meet me
because I have just concluded the assignment which my husband and I
have agreed upon before his sudden death and you happened to be the
beneficiary of our last WILL, hence I need you to do me a favor by
accepting our offer.

I deposited some fund in the sum of 1,600,000.00 GBP (One Million Six
Hundred Thousand British Pounds) with DHL UK a couple of weeks ago to
deliver to you, but i was very ill so i could not send you an email
until today. what you have to do now is to contact the DHL COURIER
SERVICE UK as soon as possible to know when they will deliver your
package to you.

For your information, I have paid for the delivery Charge, Insurance
Premium and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is
not a Drug Money or meant to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country.

You are to contact the dispatch director of DHL COURIER COMPANY
immediately for confirmation and delivery of your cheque with the
information below;

Contact Person:Mr.Tom Hagen
Email Address:tomhagen328@yahoo.co.uk
Phone:+44-702-405-6690

NOTE: you are not to pay for the delivery Charge, the Insurance
premium and the Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque because I have
already paid for them, the only money you are expected to pay is 680
British Pounds for the security keeping of the cheque so far.

I would have paid the fee but the company insisted that I should not
because they don't know when you will be contacting them and to avoid
demurrage or further cost.You are to reconfirm the below information
to them to avoid any mistake on the Delivery.

Full Names:
Occupation:
Residential Address:
Direct telephone number:

Below is the security keeping code: (SCT/4111/M) of your cheque, you
are to also present it to them for verification before delivery.

Please, try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid
further delay.

Be also notified that I will no longer be reading my email or surfing
the internet as I have retired completely from the outside world to my
estate, at this moment I have nothing to do with cars, emails and
other luxuries, all further correspondence should be forwarded to the
courier company for the delivery of your cheque to you.

Yours Sincerely,
Mrs.Martha Wilcox

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