419 scam: "Mr. John Gomez."<mr.jamesokenwa@yahoo.fr> Your First Of $5,000.00USD MTCN For Pick Up!!!

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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. )
- "you are required to pay " (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. )
- "hundred thousand united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (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.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- wnuniondeptoffice2011@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. John Gomez." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <western.union222@hotmail.fr>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:48:25 +0200
Subject: Your First Of $5,000.00USD MTCN For Pick Up!!!

Attention Please,

We are sending this alert to notify you that we issue the sum of $5000.00us
dollars to you via our western union transfer as we have given the mandate to
transfer unclaimed fund of $800,000.00 (Eight Hundred thousand United State
Dollars Only) as the Federal Government Authority instructed.

We tried so many times to e-mail you since yesterday just to inform you that
we have issued your first payment of $5,000.00us dollars unfortunately the
messages kept showing failure delivery, luckily we re-send it to you this
morning to inform you are require to pay the sum of $85.00 (Official Transfer
Charge) only before you will start receiving the $5,000.00us dollars twice
daily till you withdraw the $800.000.00us dollars completed.

Here is your first payment of $5,000.00us dollars detail below but you can
not pick up the payment until you send the $85.00 (Official Transfer Charge)
and once we receive the $85.00us dollars fees today, the Administrator Trust
Funds signed and approved your payment to enable you pick up the first
payment of $5000.00us dollars after you pick up the first payment, we will
also send the second once in next 30minutes and for your information we can
only transfer twice payments to you daily which is $10,000.00USD as we
programmed it.

YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF $5000.00us dollars ONHOLD
SENDER'S NAME:==== Hyacinth Ezechukwu.
TEXT QUESTION:=======Who Is Able
ANSWER:==============God
AMOUNT:===============$5000.00us dollars
MTCN :=============9282665044

So therefore you are required to pay the sum of $85.00 (Official Transfer
Charge) with this information below via western union money transfer to
enable you start receiving your payment immediately.

RECEIVER’S INFORMATION BELOW:-

Receiver Name: Jessica Thomas
City: Cotonou (00229)
Country: Benin
Text Question: In God
Text Answer: We Trust
Amount: $85.00Us Dollars only.

Be advice to call me on (+229) 9894 7550 once you received this message.

Your Sincerely,
Mr. John Gomez.
Western Union Director.
E-mail: (wnuniondeptoffice2011@gmail.com)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam