419 scam: "Mrs.Susan Amson"<susanamson370@yahoo.com> Dearest Friend

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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:
- "demurrage 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. )
- "million 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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
This email message is a "dying widow" scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs.Susan Amson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <susanamos93@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:53:55 +0100
Subject: Dearest Friend

Dearest Friend,

I am Mrs. Susan Nadia Amson ,Presently in a specialist , I am 58 years old, I am suffering from a long time cancer of the breast, from all indication my conditions is really deteriorating and it is quite obvious that I can't work or do any stressful thing, according to my doctors they have advised me that I may not live for the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has gotten to a very bad stage. I was brought up from a motherless babies home was married to my late husband for twenty years without a child.

My Husband (Roberto Amson) died in a fatal motor accident. Since his death I decided not to re-marry,I sold all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of $2.6 million dollars with a Bank .

Presently, this money is still with them and the management just wrote me as the true owner to come forward to receive the money for keeping it so long with attract a demurrage fees as the security fees paid by me has expired or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I can not come over because of my illness or they get it confiscated.

So instead of getting it confiscated I rather have someone whom i can trust to receive the funds and utilize it according to my Wishes.And the best part of it is that the Bank told me in the letter that they can have the funds released to any approved person that was authorized by me or transferred to his or her bank account.

Presently, I am using my laptop in the hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for my sickness. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told me that I have only more 2 months to live. It is my last wish to see like 60% of this money is invested/donated to any organization/business of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization, e.g. the poor homes, the motherless babies homes, the deaf homes, and Mosques etc.

All I seek for is a God fearing person like you who will inherit this Money and use it to carry out my last wishes and before I emailed you today i prayed and Almighty God gave me the confidence to send you this email. I took this decision before I rest in peace because my time will soon be up.I will send you my pictures here at the Hospital as soon as i hear from you.

As soon as I receive your reply I will give you the contact of the Bank.

Please send me the Below information

NAME:
ADDRESS:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
TELEPHONE NO:

All I need from you is a confidential assurance that the funds when received by you will be used for the said purpose, Nowadays there are so much scams going on in the internet and it is difficult to trust but I don’t know why the Almighty God approved me to email you about this.

Waiting for your reply.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs.Susan Amson

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam