419 scam: "MR. TERENCE P. McCULLEY"<ambassa88@hotmail.com> CONGRATULATION MY GOOD FRIEND

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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "diplomatic delivery"
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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "registration 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. )
- "million united states 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)
- "diplomatic delivery" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348129000527

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. TERENCE P. McCULLEY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <terencemcculley06@e-mail.ua>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 11:58:46 -0400
Subject: CONGRATULATION MY GOOD FRIEND

US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
11 GARIK ROAD ABUJA
ABUJA, NIGERIA

CONGRATULATION MY GOOD FRIEND

THIS IS TO INFORM YOU ON MY VISITATION TO YOUR COUNTRY ON MONDAY THE 2ND
OF SEPTEMBER 2013, FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING AND I WILL BE BRINGING YOUR
PACKAGED ATM MASTER CARD WITH CASH EQUIVALENT OF $5 MILLION UNITED STATES
DOLLARS, YOUR COMPENSATION FUND OF NIGERIA SCAM VICTIM ALONG WITH ME, BUT THIS TIME IT WILL NOT BE STOPPED BY ANY SECURITY
OR CUSTOMS AGENCY BECAUSE OF MY PERSONALITY, AS A US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA,
I AM A US GOVERNMENT AGENT AND I HAVE THE VETO POWER TO GO THROUGH CUSTOMS.
NOTE THAT AS SOON AS I AM THROUGH WITH THE MEETING, I SHALL THEN PROCEED TO
YOUR HOME ADDRESS WITH YOUR PARCEL ATM MASTER CARD. SO I WANT YOU TO FORWARD TO ME THE
BELOW INFORMATION TO ENSURE A SMOOTH DELIVERY OF YOUR PARCEL TO YOUR HOME
ADDRESS.

1} YOUR FULL NAME:
2} DIRECT DELIVERY ADDRESS:
3} TELEPHONE NUMBER FOR EASY COMMUNICATION:
4} NEAREST AIRPORT:

FOLLOWING MY VERIFICATION ON YOUR FILE TABLED TO ME, IT SHOWS THAT YOU HAVE
REALLY PAID SO MUCH FOR THE DELIVERY OF YOUR PARCEL THAT MAKES ME WONDER. I
WILL SAY YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON BECAUSE I SHALL BE IN YOUR COUNTRY BY TUESDAY 3ND SO I WILL BE BRINGING YOUR ATM MASTER CARD TO YOU BY MYSELF AND THERE WILL NOT BE ANY SECURITY/CUSTOMS AGENCY TO INTERCEPT YOUR PARCEL, AS I WILL BE BRINGING IT TO YOUR DOOR STEP BY MYSELF.

I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR PARCELED ATM MASTER CARD WITH CASH
EQUIVALENT OF (5 MILLION) MUST BE REGISTERED IN MY NAME AS AN
AMBASSADORIAL PACKAGE TO ENABLE ME DEFEAT ALL ODDS. THE ONLY REQUIREMENT TO
ENSURE A SMOOTH AND SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY OF YOUR PARCEL ATM MASTER CARD TO YOUR HOME IS THE AMBASSADORIAL REGISTRATION FEE OF YOUR PACKAGE AT THE OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE, WHICH IS THE SUM $99 TO GRANT YOUR PARCEL
INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC DELIVERY CLEARANCE.

INLINE WITH THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PARCEL DELIVERY, I WANT YOU TO MAKE SURE
THAT THIS FEE IS REMITTED TO ME ON THE BELOW INFORMATION OF MY ACCOUNT
OFFICER WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OR MONEY
GRAM SO THAT ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT CAN BE PUT IN ORDER BEFORE 2ND OF SEPTEMBER 2013, AS TIME IS OF GREAT ESSENCE TO US.

RECEIVER'S NAME:VICTOR UZOMA
RECEIVER'S ADDRESS: NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION: WHY?
TEST ANSWER: ASSURED
AMOUNT: $99
MTCN: .....................

PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL VERY CAREFULLY AND UNDERSTAND BEFORE PROCEEDING TO
THE WESTERN UNION FOR THE PAYMENT AND AS SOON AS YOU SEND THE FEE MAKE SURE
YOU FURNISH ME THE PAYMENT INFORMATION FOR QUICK CONFIRMATION BY MY ACCOUNT
OFFICER.

MY IDENTITY CAN BE VERIFIED BY SIMPLY CLICKING ON THE URL LINK BELOW.

http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/biography.html

MY FLIGHT IS SCHEDULED ON MONDAY 2ND 11.45 AM AND I EXPECT YOU TO COMPLY BEFORE
THEN SO THAT THE REGISTRATION ARRANGEMENT CAN BE COMPLETED.

FEEL FREE TO CALL ME ON MY DIRECT NIGERIA LINE +234-812-900-0527 FOR FURTHER
CLARIFICATION, THIS IS IMPORTANT AND AS SUCH YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE WILL DO
YOU GOOD.

REGARDS,

AMBASSADOR
TERENCE MCCULLEY.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam