419 scam: Western Union Money Transfer <sudeep@imsc.res.in> REPLY US BACK

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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. )
- "info@payment-westernunion.co.cc" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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.
- +447024068631 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: Western Union Money Transfer <sudeep@imsc.res.in>
Reply-To: info@payment-westernunion.co.cc
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:32:09 +0530
Subject: REPLY US BACK

Congratulation!

For 156 years, Western Union has been connecting people. At Western
Union, there's so much more than the money you're sending, every
sender and receiver is important to us. To celebrate our 156th
Anniversary, we're rewarding you with a prize sum of USD$490,000.00
(four hundred and ninty thousand united states dollars)

Please note: Your prize payout falls within our European booklet
representative office in Europe as indicated. In view of this, your
USD$490,000.00 would be released to you by any of our payment offices
in United Kingdom.

You are strictly advised to file for your claim by forwarding the
below requested information to the Western Union Claim Director
immediately you receive this notification e-mail. Please contact the
Western Union Claim Director via the below e-mail and telephone number:

Dennis Stevenson
Claim Director
Western Union (London, United Kingdom)
Email: info@payment-westernunion.co.cc
Tel:+44 702 406 8631
Fax:+44 702 408 5701

File for your claim by forwarding the below requested information via
e-mail to Dennis Stevenson.

FULL NAMES:
MAILING ADDRESS:
SEX:
AGE/DATE OF BIRTH:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
OFFICE/HOUSE/MOBILE NUMBER:
PRIZE AMOUNT:
STATE/COUNTRY:

Immediately we receive the above required details for your prize
claim, you will be contacted by the Western Union Claim Director
within the next 24 hours.

For security reason, you are advised to keep your prize information
confidential which is part of our precautionary measure to avoid
unwarranted claiming and abuse of this program.

Save time, send money, earn rewards! Western Union is a service people trust.

Thank you for using Western Union!

Western Union Online Customer Services

CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This email message, including any attachments, is
intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited from
unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the
intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or
copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this
message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy
all copies of the original message.

Copyright © 2010 The UK Western Union. All rights reserved. Terms of
Service - Guidelines

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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam