419 scam: "David V. AGU" <terry_hedges@yahoo.com> U.S. Customs and Border Protection New York City.

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:
- "clearance 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. )
- "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. )
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
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.
- u.scustoms14@yahoo.com (Yahoo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: "David V. AGU" <terry_hedges@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: u.scustoms14@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 13:26:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: U.S. Customs and Border Protection New York City.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection
New York
City.

From: David V. AGU CBP Headquarters
Office of Public Affairs
1300
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Room 3.4A Washington, DC 20229.
E-mail :
u.scustoms14@yahoo.com

ATTENTION:

I am David V.
Aguilar, the new
appointed A G Commissioner of U.S. Custom sand Border Protection (CBP) I am here
to show gratitude to all United State Citizens for appointing me as A G
Commissioner of U.S. Custom sand Border Protection (CBP) and by this I have
ordered all the consignment that was intercepted by all the Customs of United
States of America,Internal Revenue Service, Homeland Securities and so on to be
released.

Quite all right I know it was
intercepted due to inability of the beneficiary to pay for requested charges
either by clearance fee OR obtaining of one document Or the other which will
prove the customs that the consignment is genuine that made the customs to seize
the consignment.

The Rules and Obligation that you
have to abide is to pay the sum of Us$89 for the expenses of delivery the
consignment and any beneficiary who does not want to pay the US$89 should not
border to reply this email because i may not have time for much explanation and
interruptions.

You have to pay this fee directly
to our delivery Diplomat term via Western Union Money Transfer in the name
stated below:

Receivers Name; Kenneth
Chukwu
Country;;;;;;;;;;; Benin
Republic
City; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Porto-novo
Text Question; ;;;;To
Whom
Answer;
;;;;;;;;;;;Kenneth
Amount:;;;;;;; ;;$89

After paying the Fee,send the
following payment information
1. Sender's Name and
Address
2. MTCN Number
3. Text Question &
Answer

Again once i receive the fee from
you i will not hesitate to provide my accredited diplomat agent that can deliver
your consignment worth the sum of$6.4Millions without any hitches.

I will do my best to fulfill my
promises,i am to serve you better .

Yours Faithfully,
David V. Aguilar
A G Commissioner of U.S. Customs
and Border Protection(CBP

Yours Faithfully,
David
V. AGU
A G Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection
(CBP)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam