419 scam: "UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE"<info@lee.com> LONG AWAITED PAYMENT4

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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:
- "cost of transfer" (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. )
- "robert mueller" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real FBI will not tell you to contact some email address. If you are in any doubt, contact an FBI field office via www.fbi.gov. )
- "charles soludo" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrbrownmichael@live.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:23:46 -0800
Subject: LONG AWAITED PAYMENT4

Good Day,

This is to officially bring to your notice that, after a thorough
investigation by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, we have been able to recover your long awaited
payment. We have been able to recover the sum of $300M USD (Three Hundred
Million, United Sates Dollars.) from some group of Banks and individuals
as listed below.

Banks: Standard Chartered Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria, Barclays Bank,
Bank of America and the list goes on and on. We have also been able to
recover part of the fund from Prof. Charles Soludo, Mr. Sanusi Lamido, Mr.
Patrick Aziza, and Mr. Frank Nweke Robert Mueller. We need you to verify
if you have dealt with any of the banks or individuals listed below, so as
the process and make sure the sum of $1.5M is released to you immediately.

The $1.5M USD will be released to you via TELEGRAPHIC WIRE TRANSFER AND
VIA AN ATM MASTER CARD mode of payment. We urge you to kindly confirm the
mode of payment which you find most convenient in releasing your fund to
you immediately. The cost of processing all legal paper works backing the
release of the $1.5M USD has been processed in your favor. In regards to
the cost of transfer of deliver of your ATM MASTER CARD to your address,
waiver was granted in your and the only amount you have been asked to pay
is $205 only.

Kindly send the fee with the details listed below..

Receivers name: Samuel Ugo
Location : Lagos Nigeria
Text question : Good
Text answer : News
Amount : $205

However, We need you to confirm if you have authorized your uncle and his wife to come in claim of this payment , information reaching us just now
was that, some people were trying divert your fund to their personal account and we advise you to try as much as you can to confirm back to us
, if you did authorized them to claim the payment on your behalf because, if after 72 working hours from now, the requested details and fee is not
confirmed sent by you, the fund will be released to those couples

. We have pictures of those couples which will be forwarded to you as soon we hear back from you.

Regards,
Michael Brown
UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam