419 scam: "Western Union Money Transfer"<westernunionoffice@zoho.com> YOUR ICTC

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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. )
- "mtcn" (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 transfer control number" (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. )
- "once we receive the payment" (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. )
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 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.
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.
- +2348068580538 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Western Union Money Transfer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <westernunionagentmike01@zoho.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:41:56 +0100
Subject: YOUR ICTC

WESTERN UNION HEAD OFFICE

5 Tafawa Balewa Square,

Lagos Nigeria

Telephone Number: +234 8068580538

Attn:

My Name is Mr. Mike Williams. I am the newly appointed Director in charge of remittance at the head office of Western Union Nigeria.

We have been auditing our file records and your name was fund amongst the list of beneficiaries whose funds are pending to be transferred. I checked through your case file and discovered that you are supposed to receive a pending transfer of 85,000USD which will be sent to your name. You will be receiving a western union MTCN of 5,000USD daily for the next 17 days to make up the total of 85,000USD.

The reason why your funds were not transferred is because you did not obtain an International Clearance Transfer Certificate for your funds and we have given you a waiver on the cost for obtaining the certificate due to the recent auditing exercise we conducted. The international Clearance transfer Certificate which cost 520USD before now cost 150USD due to the audit exercise and we are clearing off our desk.

Note: You will be required to immediately make payment of 150USD for the International Clearance Transfer Certificate immediately so we can immediately start sending you the 5,000USD MTCN daily for the next 17 days.

Please re confirm your details with the once we have in our file so we don’t make a mistake when sending your payment of 5,000USD which will be staring from tomorrow once we receive the payment for the international Clearance transfer Certificate .

Your Name:

Your Address:

Telephone Number:

Once we receive payment for the international Clearance transfer Certificate, we will state sending your payment by 10.00am tomorrow 6th March 2009.

You are to local any local western union agent close to you and immediately effect payment of 150USD for the certificate immediately so we can immediately conclude on your issue.

Below are the details of our account officer through which you are to make payment to obtain the international Clearance transfer Certificate.

Name: Akinbode Samuel

Address:12 OAU Quaters, Maryland Lagos, Nigeria

Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN):............................

Test Question: My Brother

Answer: Mike

We are waiting for the confirmation of the evidence of payment and immediately we receive the payment details we will obtain your certificate today and by tomorrow morning we will start sending you 5,000USD daily.

Sincerely,

Mike Williams

.........................................................................................................................................
This email and its attachments are confidential and intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s). This email and its attachments may also be privileged or protected by legal rules. If you have received this by mistake please let us know by reply immediately and destroy the email and its attachments without reading, copying or forwarding the contents

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam