419 scam: "Mrs. Joanne Crawford"<joannecrawford@seminary.name> Re: Charity Project

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "dear beloved," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "please endeavor to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Joanne Crawford" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsjoannecrawford@careceo.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:01:55 -0500
Subject: Re: Charity Project

Dear Beloved,

PLEASE ENDEAVOR TO USE IT FOR THE CHARITY. I am Joanne Crawford. A 65 years old U.S woman, suffering from a long time cancer of the breast, I am a missionary and I have decided to Willingly Donate the sum of $5.5 Million (Five Million, Five hundred thousand Dollars) to charity and individual through you for the good work of the lord, and to help the motherless, less privileged and also for the assistance of the widows.
My coming in contact with you is solely by the divine will and no doubt about it. Please like i told you earlier I'm a missionary woman from U.S but residing in Ghana for the missionary works.

My husband was an Engineer with an oil company in Ghana, In fact it is too sad to let you know that i lost my dear husband and two kids in a tragic motor accident, and since then i have been battling with this deadly breast cancer disease which most specialist doctors have confirmed that i may not survive no matter what. All i want to do now is to present you as my family next of kin to receive the $5.5 million which me and my husband deposited in a security company. I want you to receive this money and use it to help the less privileges, widows and orphans.

Kindly furnish me your full name and your address also your contact number, so that I will prepare all relevant
documents with the assistance of our family lawyer to effect the release of the fund to you.

Remain blessed.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs.Joanne Crawford

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam