419 scam: "ROBERT S. MUELLER" <terry_hedges@yahoo.com> Contact United Embassy Benin For Your Master Card

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:
- "security keeping fee" (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. )
- "moneygram" (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. )
- "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.
MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a 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.
- unitedemassybenin74@rocketmail.com (Rocketmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "ROBERT S. MUELLER" <terry_hedges@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: unitedemassybenin74@rocketmail.com
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 02:53:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Contact United Embassy Benin For Your Master Card

ROBERT S. MUELLER
WASHINGTON
DC
ROOM,
7367
J.
EDGAR HOOVER FBI
BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON
, DC
20535

ATTN:
In regard to your package which contain the MasterCard. FedEx update me today
that your package have stay long than what they expected and they want you to
show some seriousness to the charge fee required to get the package shipped to
you. I know things are hard now in terms of financially but you need to know
that this package is very important and the total amount the MasterCard contain
is $3.5 Million usd and your daily limit withdraw is $15,000 per day program by
the International Credit system . The charge fee required to pay the security
keeping fee is $207usd and this is the last fee required if any other fee occurs
i will make sure FedEx return all the money you have sent previously so you have
nothing to worry about, I assure you that i will make sure shipment commence
once the charge fee is paid to US .

THE PAYMENT INFORMATION OF ALEX IKE
TO SEND THE $207USD THROUGH MONEYGRAM AND ONCE PAYMENT IS MADE GET BACK TO ME
WITH THE PAYMENT CONFIRMATION DETAILS SO I CAN FORWARD IT TO HIM SO THE CHARGE
FEE CAN BE PAID AND SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE ONCE THIS IS DONE OK.

NAME................ CHRIS OKEKE
ADDRESS:,,,,,,,,,,,, BENIN REPUBLIC

CITY: ...................COTONOU
COUNTRY:........ ZIP CODE: 299
TEXT
.................ONCE
ANSWER: .....FAITH
AMOUNT........$207

usd
Once payment is made get back to me with the payment confirmation details
required however below for shipment requesting information can commence and i
will forward it to FedEx so shipment will commence immediately.

SENDER
NAME...............
CONFIRMATION ADDRESS............
TELEPHONE
NUMBER.................

NOTE: THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOUR MASTERCARD CONTAIN
IS $3.5 MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST UP TILL DATE. YOUR DAILY LIMIT
WITHDRAW IS $15,000 PER DAY ONCE YOUR PACKAGE IS SHIPPED AND YOU RECEIVE IT YOU
WILL RECOVER ALL YOU HAVE SPENT HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND. Have a wonderful day and
remember all you need to send is $207usd only to complete everything. Email
Address; (unitedemassybenin74@rocketmail.com)
ROBERT S. MUELLER SENIOR OFFICE DEPARTMENT FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FBI.WASHINGTON DC. J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue,NW
Washington, D.C.20535-0001, USA

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam