419 scam: "James Brien Comey, Jr"<postmaster@localhost.com> ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY,FROM FBI OFFICE IN WASHINGTON D.C,

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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:
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "western union" (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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2347058682879 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- frankedward83@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "James Brien Comey, Jr" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <frankedward83@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:10:56 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY,FROM FBI OFFICE IN WASHINGTON D.C,

Anti-Terrorist And Monetary Crimes Division
FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
J.Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
www.fbi.gov

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY

This e-mail has been issued to you in order to officially inform you that we
have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was issued
to you by an International Lottery Company. With the help of our newly developed
technology (International Monitoring Network System) we discovered that your
e-mail address was automatically selected by an Online Balloting System, this
has legally won you the sum of $10.5million USD from a Lottery Company outside
the United States of America. During our investigation we discovered that your
e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we have authorized this
winning to be paid to you via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT.

Normally, it will take up to 5 business days for an INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK
DRAFT by your local bank. We have successfully notified this company on your
behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered bank within the world wined,
so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any delay, henceforth the
stated amount of $10.5million USD has been deposited with IMF. We have completed
this investigation and you are here by approved to receive the winning prize as
we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100% risk free, due to
the fact that the funds have been deposited with IMF you will be required to
settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent in-charge of this
transaction whom is located in Nigeria, West Africa. According to our
discoveries, you were required to pay for the following,

(1) Deposit Fee's ( IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE )
(2) Shipping Fee's ( This is the charge for shipping the Cashier's Check to
your home address)

The total amount for everything is $650.00 We have tried our possible best to
indicate that this $650.00 should be deducted from your winning prize but we
found out that the funds have already been deposited IMF and cannot be accessed
by anyone apart from you the winner, therefore you will be required to pay the
required fee's to the Agent in-charge of this your transaction In order to
proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact the agent
in-charge ( Mr. frank edward ) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find appropriate
contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: MR FRANK EDWARD
E-MAIL :( frankedward83@gmail.com)
PHONE: +2347058682879
You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
DIRECT CONTACT NUMBER:
OCCUPATION:

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details on how
to send the required $650.00 in order to immediately ship your prize of
$10.5million USD via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT from IMF, also include
the following transaction code in order for him to immediately identify this
transaction: EA2948-910.

This letter will serve as proof that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is
authorizing you to pay the required $650.00 ONLY to Mr. FRANK EDWARD
information in
which he shall send to you,

Federal Bureau of Investigation F B I
James Brien Comey, Jr
III Director Office of Public Affairs
Welcome once more to FBI www.fbi.gov

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam