419 scam: "WESTERN UNION Director. Mr. John Michael"<backup@euromar.pt> YOUR TRANSFER MTCN OF $5000.00 BY WESTERN UNION

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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.
- western_union_offlce@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "WESTERN UNION Director. Mr. John Michael" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <western_union_offlce@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 9 Sep 2012 17:03:18 +0100
Subject: YOUR TRANSFER MTCN OF $5000.00 BY WESTERN UNION

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 $98.00 (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 $150.00 (Official Transfer Charge) and once we receive the $150.00us 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:==== AUGUSTINE EMEKA
TEXT QUESTION:=======Who Is Able
ANSWER:==============God
AMOUNT:===============$5000.00us dollars
MTCN :=============3090365458

So therefore you are required to pay the sum of $150.00 (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:ANIEGBOKA FRANKILN
City: Cotonou (00229)
Country: Benin
Text Question: In God
Text Answer: We Trust
Amount: $100 Us Dollars only.

Note to re-confirm your personal information once again to avoid mistake on your payment file and also remember to call me on (+229) 6810 8374 once you received this message.

Your Sincerely,
Mr. John Michael
Western Union Director.
E-mail: (western_union_offlce@yahoo.co.uk)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam