419 scam: "Western Union@com" <polynina2@yahoo.fr> YOUR PAYMENT IS AVAILABLE

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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. )
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: "Western Union@com" <polynina2@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: western.plc@hotmail.com
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:16:22 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: YOUR PAYMENT IS AVAILABLE

Can receiving money/sending money through western union be easy? yes!
Western Union has been operating for over 150 years. Today
with just over 380,000 Agent locations worldwide in over 200 countries and
territories, millions of people trust Western Union to send and receive money
worldwide.

ATTENTION DEAR.

How are you doing? We the Western Union send money and receive money
worldwide headquarters are here to notify you about the transfer of your total
fund which you have been trying to receive via Money Gram Offices but still to
no available. We promise to make it easier for you once you comply with this WU
headquarter.

Be informed that your fund is now ready in Western Union
system to be transfer to you. Note that you will be receiving two different
payments of $10, 000. 00 per day until the $1.2M USD are completely transferred
to you. After our meeting held this afternoon we concluded that your two
different payments will be sent to you today.

So fell free to comply with this WU headquarter
and we promise to you the best of our service in this transaction. Meanwhile you
are to reconfirm the following information and forward to our head office for
the transfer to take place today.

Full Name=========

Country===========
Direct Phone======
Home Address======
Text
Question=======
Answer===========

Note that after confirming your
information the only money you will send is $40 been the Renewing of your File
payment from International Monetary Fund (I.M.F). The payment should be sent by
western union with below information so we can transfer the two different
payments today.

Receivers Name,:;;;; Gabriel Chinwuba
Country,:;;;; Republic of Benin
City,:;;;;Lagos
Text Question,:;;;How Long
Answer,:;;;Today

Amount,;;$40
MTCN,;;;;;;;;

Be informed that F.B.I is now aware of this transaction and
their are now monitoring you so if you contact any office without this Western
Union headquarter you will be caught by the F.B.I. here is your CODE (W1369) any
office that contacted you without using this Code as a Subject do not reply it
and forward to us for further investigation. Thank you for your understanding.

We are looking forward to hearing from you
soonest.

Sincerely,
Sir Alex Rooney
Foreign operation management
Western Union headquarter Republic of Benin ,

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam