419 scam: "ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT FINANCIAL BANK $Foreign Operation Dept$" <info.departmoffice@gmail.com> CONVINCE ME THAT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "cotonou" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT FINANCIAL BANK $Foreign Operation Dept$" <info.departmoffice@gmail.com>
Reply-To: interl.departm2@msn.com
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 12:48:48 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: CONVINCE ME THAT YOU ARE STILL ALIVE

Atten , .

We received an emails from a lady called, What is still the delay, You don't want to respond to me, to know if you are alive or you are dead. What is the matter with you? I have tried to reach you by telephone and emails, no respond. what is the problem now, please respond so that we can finalize this without any delay. Please let me know if you are ready to receive your Am card or you don't want to receive it any longer.

I want you to know that Gloria Pfeifer, she called us yesterday with this number tell: +09264708533 claimed that you are dead again , she said that we should send her you're A.T.M card to her home address:490 FRESNO PARLIER. City, PARLIER , because she is the next of kin to you, Convince me that you are still alive, because the lady said that she will be in our office by today morning to claim your Atm card and she will provide your International pass-port to us . Please convince me now. She said that you died yesterday night. and they are here to claim your Atm card. they said that they knew you was going to pay $36 to get the A.T.M card because you told them something like that before you die.

I should let her know the information that she will use for the payment of $36, please let me know if this is true or not as am confused now and if we do not see your response as soon as possible then we will know is true and enrooted you're A.T.M card to her address. So you are advice to send us the money and the Attachement of your International pass-port to confirm that you are still alive not dead. or you give me a call to hear your voice. you are advice to send the money with the below information's.

Send the money via western union with this informations.

Sender's Name:..........
Receiver's Name: Onyekachi James
Text Question: What for?
Answer: Tag
Country:--- Benin Republic
City:-- Cotonou
MTCN:................
Amount: $36

Send the money via western union money transfer and forward the payment informations to us for easier pick up. Because of you don't respond to us again that is the reason why we belived that you are dead.

I will be waiting for your reply.

Best regards,
Mr. Williams Peter.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam