419 scam: "Western Union Money Transfer"<marielacenturion@speedy.com.ar> $50,000 Conpensation Beneficiary.

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:
- "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. )
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "w.westunion@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "w.westunion@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "w.westunion@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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 Money Transfer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <w.westunion@qq.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 03:35:49 -0600
Subject: $50,000 Conpensation Beneficiary.

Attention Beneficiary,

This is to officially inform you that the United Nations Organization compensation payment committee, have mapped out funds running into Millions of United States Dollars for the settlement of all funds that have been lost to Nigerian Scams via Lottery Winnings, Contract payments, Fake Bank Transfer scams, Inheritance Funds payments, fake money orders, fraudulent online shopping, dating/romance scams, charity scams, check transfer and ATM scams etc. This compensation is been sponsored and done by the Nigerian Government in collaboration with the World Bank, United Nations Organization and Western Union Money Transfer.

We have been directed by the United Nations Security Council to make a compensation payment of $50,000.00 USD (Fifty Thousand United States Dollars Only) to you being one of the listed beneficiaries. Be informed that a first part payment of sum of $25,000.00 (Twenty Five Thousand United States Dollars Only) shall be sent to you immediately once you activate the transfer process and another $25,000 dollars will be sent to you within 48hrs to after transfer activation to complete the payment.

===============================================================================================================================================================================================
Below is the Western Union information for the first payment pick up:
MTCN: 042-452-6785
SENDER NAME: Greg Miller
Question: PAYOUT MONTH
Answer: AUGUST
Amount: $25,000.00 USD
===============================================================================================================================================================================================
RECEIVER INFORMATION:
NAME:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ALL INFORMATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO THE TRANSFER AGENT BELOW:
AGENT: GREG MILLER
EMAIL: w.westunion@qq.com
===============================================================================================================================================================================================
Kindly get back to us via email immediately confirming your name, address and telephone number, Once we receive your email, we shall give you more information on what you need to do to activate the above MTCN(042-452-6785) to start up your transfer. Please be aware that you will need to
KINDLY SEND YOUR REPLY TO: w.westunion@qq.com
Regards,
Mrs. Greg Miller
Western Union Department Head office®
Email: w.westunion@qq.com
===============================================================================================================================================================================================

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam