419 scam: "Thanks"<fbiserviceinner@live.com> THANKS

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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:
- "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. )
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "atm.cardcentre@live.com" (this email address looks like addresses used in "ATM SWIFT card" scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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.

Fraud email example:

From: "Thanks" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atm.cardcentre@live.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:08:35 +0200
Subject: THANKS

Attn: Beneficiary,

If you have ever had an illegal or legal Transaction with People or persons claiming to be Mr.Tito Mboweni of the Reserve Bank Of South African ,Central Bank of Nigeria,any bank payment that you could,nt received your money, Pay Pal,any online lottery Winning,Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of ABSA Bank, FNB Banks, kelvin Young of HSBC, Renies Banks of SA,Ben of Fedex,Ibrahim Sule,Larry Christopher, scotland national lottery,mega sa2010 lottery,fifa 2010lottery,canada lottery,uthingo lottery,mega online lottery or whatsoever online transaction you lost money to impostors claiming to be from any of these.Note this is to Officially inform you that we have thoroughly Investigated all that with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System.And during our Investigation, we noticed that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of the winning agreement,and Contra!
ct/Inheritance Payment.

Therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance and all other neccesary offices in this regard on your behalf and they have brought this solution to your problem by cordinating your payment money in an ATM CARD which you can use to withdraw money from any ATM MACHINE CENTER anywhere in the world with a maximum of $4,000 to $5,000 United States Dollars,GBp4,000 to GBp5,000 and Euro4,000 to Euro5,000 daily. You now have the lawful right to claim your fund in an ATM CARD.

Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in this transaction, you have to be rest assured because this is 100% risk free, it is our duty to protect the American Citizens and Citizens of the World. All you need to do now is to contact our agent at ATM CARD CENTER.
MR.SUNDAY OSHIOZEMHE ARUAH,
Tel:0027825441022,
Email: atm.cardcentre@live.com
with your FULL NAME,PHYSICAL ADDRESS TO RECEIVE YOUR ATM CARD,TELEPHONE NUMBER TO CONTACT YOU ,OCCUPATION,THE AMOUNT of FUNDS INVOLVE IN YOUR TRANSACTION,THE BANK NAME and also with your US$500.00 dollar fees only through Western Union Money Transfer for the procurement of your Approval Slip via email on your behalf.
Note: Your Approval Slip will contain details of this agent who will process your transaction so that your files would be updated and after which the delivery of your ATM CARD will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay. Mr. Sunday.o.Aruah will reply you with the secret code (8389 ATM CARD).

Please don,t reply to this office.Contact our agent Mr.Sunday .o.Aruah,via email or telephonically and we shall make sure your ATM SWIFT CARD gets to you in person.

Thanks
Robert S.Mueller III.
FBI Director

Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possesion of your ATM CARD, you are hereby adviced only to be in contact with our agent Mr. Sunday.o.Aruah at ATM CARD center who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam