419 scam: "ivanthomas005@gmail.com" <ivanthomas005@gmail.com> Dearest in the Lord,

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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "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)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- "calvary greetings" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "ivanthomas005@gmail.com" <ivanthomas005@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ivanthomas002@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 23:20:48 +0100
Subject: Dearest in the Lord,

Dearest in the Lord,

Calvary Greetings in the name of the LORD Almighty and Our LORD JESUS
CHRIST the giver of every good thing.

Good day and compliments of the seasons, i know this letter will definitely
come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go
through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to
determine my future and continued existence. I am Mrs. Ivan Thomas an aging
widow of 61 years old suffering from long time cancer of the throat.

I have some funds I inherited from my late husband, the sum of
US$8,000,000.00 and I needed a very honest and God fearing Christian who
can withdraw this money then use the funds for Charity works. I WISH TO
GIVE THIS FUNDS TO YOU FOR CHARITY WORKS. I contacted you after studying
your background after honest prayers to the LORD to bring me a helper and i
decided to contact you to handle these trust funds in good faith before
anything happens to me after my surgery which comes up soon.

I am desperately in keen need of assistance and I have summoned up courage
to contact you for this task, you must not fail me and the millions of the
poor people in our todays WORLD. This is no stolen money and there are no
dangers involved,100% RISK FREE with full legal proof. Please if you would
be able to use the funds for the Charity works please kindly let me know
immediately by emailing me back to this email address.

Warmest Regards,

Mrs. Ivan Thomas

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam