419 scam: "Mrs. Theresa Summers"<theresa@networksolutions.com> How Are You Today?

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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.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Theresa Summers" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <theresa.summers01@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 13:13:11 +0100
Subject: How Are You Today?

Greetings,

My name is Theresa Summers, I am a widow and an Australian Nationale been diagnosed of an esophageal cancer shortly before the demise of my late husband who died of heart attack in 2009. I am presently living the rest of my days receiving treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) here in England, where I have been undergoing adequate treatment for the late-stage terminal of the cancer, and from all indication my condition has deteriorated and it is quite obvious according to my doctors that I may not live for the next couple of days, due to the fact that my health has gotten to a critical and life threatening stage.

However, with this hard reality that has befallen me, I have decided to seek your consent to present you officially as the heir/beneficiary to the fixed deposit valued Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand Euros, which I inherited after the demise of my late husband, who was a seasoned contractor with the Exxon Mobil Petroleum Company. Meanwhile, the deposit is presently lying in one of the finance company in Europe and I wish you to use this gift which I present to you for the upkeep of widows, destitutes, barren woman and orphans in the society. On your confirmation of this message and indicating your interest, I will furnish you with more details.

I urgently hope to get your response as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. Theresa Summers

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam