419 scam: "Western Union" <info@alshaikhassociates.com> Payment..

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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. )
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" <info@alshaikhassociates.com>
Reply-To: western_unionoutlet@msn.com
Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:10:59 +0100
Subject: Payment..

I write to inform you that we have transferred (One million Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Malaysian Ringgit) equivalent to USD$400,000 Dollars to be cashed USD5000.00 daily installment with the same MTCN and sender's name which will be valid for 80 days..

The fund is available for pick up/cashing which was deposited for transfer to you by one MR Perry Poston from Black BERRY MOBILE COMPNAY as a winning prize from the last held home play draw that your email address won according to them on deposition of the fund with us to encourage the global usage of their product.

The money is available for pick up by receiver(you) if you check on our website but you can not cash it due to its restriction from our head office for security reason because it has stayed over the programmed time as we have been trying to reach you for some days now but it has not been fruitful. Hence, the transaction was blocked for security reason to
prevent hackers from having access to it.

Irrespective of the fact that it displays available for pick up when you track it, a clause was placed on it for security reasons until we are sure you are available. Therefore you can not cash it in any of our office due to the restriction from our head office which was a security measure because the money have been on air for three days now and maybe at
risk. Hence, the mtcn has to be reactivated to enable you start cashing your fund from any western union office in your city, vicinity, state. etc. The reactivation of the MTCN will cost you a token of $250. Once this is paid, our head office would release the fund on hold so can start cashing your fund.To confirm this, please log on to

(https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=global) and enter the sender's info and mtcn below and click check status to see the availability of the transfer.

Sender's Fist name: Perry
Sender's Last Name: Poston
MTCN: 9429519950
Question: Who Is Great
Answer: God
Amount: $5000.00USD
Total Amount To be cashed:$400,000usd

With due respect please get back to me urgently after tracking the transaction online so I can instruct you on how to send the $250 to us for the reactivation of the MTCN.

Best Regards
Mr.Phoenix Mcferrin.,
Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia.
Western Union® Money Transfer

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam