419 scam: "BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN." <r154261i@o2.pl> FROM DESK OF BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN EMBASSY.

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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. )
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- "federalministryfinance11@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
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: "BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN." <r154261i@o2.pl>
Reply-To: federalministryfinance11@w.cn
Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 14:16:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: FROM DESK OF BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN EMBASSY.

FROM DESK OF BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN EMBASSY.

FINANCE MINISTER OF. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF BENIN .

FORGE CONTRACTOR PAYMENT OFFICE. federalministryfinance11@w.cn

====================================================

YOUR FULL RESPECT,

ATTN;BENEFICIARY,

WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO SEND YOUR FUND TO YOUR ADDRESS IN YOUR CITY FROM THE FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC.YOU WILL BE RECEIVING YOUR FUND ( $3000 U.S.D ) PER DAY AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TOTAL SUM OF ($950.000.00) I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INFORM YOU THAT GOVERNMENT IS PLANING

TO CANCEL YOUR WINNER FUNDS AND TRANSFER IT INTO GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS IF WE DID NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHING 3DAYS YOU ARE REQUIRE TO SEND US OUR TRANSFER CHARGES THE

SUM OF $55 USD FOR THE $3000 THAT WE HAVE ALREADY SEND, MEANWHILE SEND THE $55USD TO US IMMEDIATELY TODAY FOR FASTER SENDING OF YOUR FUND CORRECTLY BY TOMORROW MORNING...

AFTER THE MONEY HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED CORRECTLY TO YOUR ADDRESS WE WILL MAIL YOU THE PAYMENT INFORMATION'S YOU NEED TO PICK UP YOUR MONEY IN ANY WESTERN UNION AROUND YOU CORRECTLY BECAUSE THE ONE THAT IS HERE IS NOT CORRECT BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED OUR $$55 USD ONLY.

REASON WHY WE NEED YOU TO SEND US THE $55 USD IS THAT WE TRIED TO DEDUCT THE TRANSFERRING FEE OUT FROM YOUR FUND BUT THE MINISTER ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUND OF BENIN REPUBLIC TOLD US THAT NO ONE HAS RIGHT OVER YOUR FUND AS IT HAVE BEEN SIGNED AND STAMPED THAT NO MONEY SHOULD BE DEDUCTED UNTIL IT GETS TO YOUR HANDS TO AVOID STEALING SOME OF THE FUNDS.SO IF YOU WANT TO TRACK THE MONEY AND CONFIRM IF THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERRED ENTER OUR WEBSITE WWW.WESTERN UNION.COM

THEN CLICK TRACKING AND ENTER THE MTCN NUMBER; 7771704680 ENTER SENDERS FIRST IGNATUS ..... ENTER

SENDERS LAST NAME..ONUORAH. AND CLICK TRACKING AND

IT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOUR FUNDS IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PICK IT UPSENDER NAME: IGNATUS ONUORAH,

WWW.WESTERN UNION.COM

SENDER'S NAME:==== IGNATIUS ONUORAH

RECEIVER'S NAME:===============,

TEXT QUESTION:=======Who made you?

ANSWER:==============God.

AMOUNT:===============$3000,00.

MTCN :================== 7771704680

http://www.westernunion.com/info/selectCountry.asp

FINALLY URGENT SEND US THE $55 USD TO ENABLE US PROCEED ON YOUR PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY RIGHT.

BELOW IS OUR ACCOUNT'S INFORMATION FOR YOU TO SEND THE $72 USD THROUGH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OR MONEY GRAM BEEN OUR TRANSFERRING CHARGE FOR YOUR $3000.00 USD,

RECEIVER:.........MR OKOLO CHRISTAN

COUNTRY........ BENIN REPUBLIC

CITY ....................... COTONOU

MTCN..................................

QUESTION: HOW LONG?

ANSWER............ 24 HOURS.

SENDERS NAME..................

AMOUNT:................$55, USD

YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED .

WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TO QUICKEN THE PROCESS.

Please if you are not the real beneficiary don't respond on this

Yours in service

BARRISTER OKOLO CHRISTAN. Embassy attorney, Benin .

Finance Ministry

Federal republic of Benin .

FROM DESK OF BARRISTER SUNDAY PAUL EMBASSY

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam