Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
There are affiliate links on this page.
Read our disclosure policy to learn more.
It sounds like an old Henny Youngman joke: Have you received an email from "Judith Johnson", who says
"My husband, a local chief in our community is late and we have only one daughter. Our tradition forbids women to inherit estates of their deceased husband, it is worse when a woman did not have a male child for a deceased chief."?
And what follows is a convoluted sob story of one misery after another, along with a healthy dose of gibberish, spelling errors, terrible gram, syntax and punctuation, not exactly befitting an extremely wealthy person. And now, poor bereaved "Judith Johnson", needs YOUR help:
"I was advised by the management of the vaulting company that the only way the fund could be released to us is that we find somebody who will adopt my daughter so that they can transfer the money in the `name of the adopter since my daughter is below the age of 21 as this is against the mandate on the fund... we are soliciting your help to stand as an adoptee and allow the payment comes through you".
Gee, she's from such a backwoods tribe, yet she has internet access, and her name is "Judith Johnson". And since they saw this problem coming years in advance, why didn't Chief Poop-for-Brains just GIVE his wife the money, while he was alive?
Odd that she'd pick a total stranger, in a foreign country to adopt her daughter and take their money, don't you think?
OF COURSE, it is a scam. Don't reply to it.
If you would like a step by step explanation of how this type of "Advance Fee Fraud" works, click here!
From: JUDITH JOHNSON [ judithjohnson6576@earthlink.net ]
To Whom It May Concern
Attention: Mr/Ms
My husband, a local chief in our community is late and we have only one daughter. Our tradition forbids women to inherit estates of their deceased husband, it is worse when a woman did not have a male child for a deceased chief.
Before his death, he was so worried of my inability of giving him a male child and what await my daughter and I if he dies. He gave up the ghost on the 16th of September, 2007. After the entire burial rite, I was striped of all the entitlement and sent away from my husband domain to my family home. My parents are late and I have only one brother who is a farmer with a wife and children.
Our new found live has not been easy. On the 4th of January 2008, I received an urgent invitation from Gk-vaulting company and there I was told that my late husband kept in their vault the sum of $4 Million for safe keep and my daughter is the benefactor in their form.
I was advised by the management of the vaulting company that the only way the fund could be released to us is that we find somebody who will adopt my daughter so that they can transfer the money in the `name of the adopter since my daughter is below the age of 21 as this is against the mandate on the fund or we wait until she becomes 21 years, she is 17 years now.
We cannot afford to wait for that time otherwise we will die and losses the fund so, we are soliciting your help to stand as an adoptee and allow the payment comes through you.
Be informed that my daughter's surname will remain the same as "Johnson" and the adoption is just only on paper, there will be no legal protocol that will empower you to claim ownership of my daughter in the near future or to claim all the entitlement after the fund has been transferred to you. What you are entitled to is just the commission that will be given to you which we have proposed the sum of $500,000.
If you are willing to be of help to us, please send your name, Address, phone and fax number and the process will be explained to you.
Treat as Urgent.
Yours truly,
Judith Johnson.
*