419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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. )
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "treasury.dept@englandmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "treasury.dept@englandmail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "res.banksouthafrica@safrica.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
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.
- boardlink@inbox.lv (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER <blueswan@indosat.net.id>
Reply-To: infoi.f@post.com
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2015 00:00:47 +0700 (WIT)
Subject: PLEASE PICK UP THE MONEY USD$10,000.00 OUR FIRST PAYMENT FROM THE
WESTERN UNION

11 NATIONAL ROAD, MUSINA
(MESSINA), LIMPOPO,ZA
SOUTH AFRICA.
Tel:+27-(0) 78 127 3459
Email:treasury.dept@englandmail.com
------------------------------------------------------

ATTN:WESTERN UNION WINNER,

CONGRATULATIONS!

YOU
HAVE WON GBPÂ£2,500,000.00 (TWO MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND GREAT
BRITAIN POUNDS)ONLY YOUR E-MAIL I.D. EMERGED AS ONE OF THE THIRTY
THOUSAND FINAL RECIPIENTS OF A CASH GRANT/DONATION OF (GBPÂ£2,500,000.00)
ONLY IN THE WESTERN UNION E-MAIL DRAW 2015, FOR THE CLAIM OF YOUR PRICE
YOU ARE TO CONTACT THE BELOW INFORMATION VIA E-MAIL WITH YOUR
REF.(WUNT/768/SA/).

We have finally arrange and concluded to
transfer your outstanding Award Lottery fund payment of Â£2, 500,000.00
GBP (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain Pounds) only that
should be total equivalent to $3,878,388.01 USD US Dollar, Its further
equivalents to â‚¬3,475,843.20 EUR Euro only batch by batch through
Western Union Money Transfer. Via our foreign correspondent, note that
we did made two transactions today to you each transaction is $5,000.00
USD Please kindly pick up our first two installment payments of
USD$10,000.00 which was sent to you below are the MTCN NO# to pick up
the funds immediately without further delay.

Due to daily limit
via Western Union policy their terms and condition please pardon us by
picking up this fund little by little until the transaction finally been
completed the amount that you're excepting to receive from us sorry for
the inconveniences this may course you during this transaction due to
time frame schedule and South African Government policy to have it
finalized in time bear with us please pick this amount today then first
thing tomorrow morning weâ€™ll still transfer another payment for you to
pick up at any nearest Western Union office there in your (CITY) within
10 minutes.

NOTE: THIS TWO MTCN NUMBERS NEED TO BE AUTHORIZED
AND COMMENCE IN OUR SYSTEM FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN PICK UP THE MONEY AT THE
WESTERN UNION AGENT OFFICE THERE IN YOUR CITY: FOR US TO AUTHORIZE THE
MTCN NO# YOU INSTRUCTED TO GET BACK TO US WITH YOUR DETAILS BELOW.

The
transfer MTCN numbers is already available for pick up by you. Kindly
visit our official web site http://www.westernunion.com ,Find Tracking
on the top right of the site page, and insert accordingly the details
following the instructions below or Call our Customer Service Center
(+1-800-325-6000) and following the instructions below tracked your
transfer and confirmed information blow.
=========================================
MTCN NO#: 088-694-3669
SERNDER'S NAME: Paul Peter Akyoo
COUNTRY SEND: SOUTH AFRICA
AMOUNT TO PICK UP NOW: USD$5,000.00
-----------------------------------------
MTCN NO#: 392-233-9352
SERNDER'S NAME: Mr. Sutopo Driyawastyo
COUNTRY SEND: SOUTH AFRICA
AMOUNT TO PICK UP NOW: USD$5,000.00
=========================================
Transaction Ref: TLL020020000012

We
refer to your request dated in August 2015 for D10 Payment via (WESTERN
UNION) Transactions for $10,000.00 USD; we are pleased to confirm that
this request has been completed.

Should you require any
clarification, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Service
Hotline anytime at +27-(015) 534 3091 (within South Africa), or +1
(800)-325-6000 (outside South Africa). For clients of Moneyweb
Treasures, Treasures Private Client or Private Banking, please call
+27-(0) 78 127 3459 (within South Africa) or +27-(0) 60 914 2791
(outside South Africa).FAX: +27 (0) 86 274 2908 or email us.

KINDLY DO EMAIL US AT: treasury.dept@englandmail.com

FOR INQUIRIES PLEASE EMAIL US AT: res.banksouthafrica@safrica.com

TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE MONEY DO EMAIL US AT: boardlink@inbox.lv

PLEASE
SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENT FILE FOR FURTHER STEP HOW TO CLAIM THE
PRIZE.KINDLY FILL IN THE CLAIM FORM BELOW WITH YOUR FULL DETAILS AND
RETURN IT BACK TO US TO ENABLE US PROCESS THIS TRANSACTION AMICABLY.

BELOW IS THE COMPUTER PRINT OUT RECEIPT COPIES OF YOUR TWO TRANSACTION PAYMENTS.
======================================================
Send Money through Western UnionÂ®
Reference Number: 529833
Transaction Status: Successful
Transaction Date/Time: 5-09-2015 08:53:58 AM
>From Account: 3354961409 (Current)
Amount: $5,000.00 USD
MTCN: 392-233-9352
Sender's Name: Mr. Sutopo Driyawastyo
WU Reference No: 176046080
Estimated Destination FCY Amount: US Dollars $5,000.00
Exchange Rate: 13.8546 ZAR South African Rand
Tax Invoice No.: 8877-091-150430-125000
GST @13.8: 69,282.53 ZAR
Transaction Amount: $5,000.00
Total Amount Payable: $5,000.00 USD
Purpose Code: TRANSACTION OF R69,282.53 ZAR AND BELOW
Test Question: What Color
Answer: White
=======================================================
Send Money through Western UnionÂ®
Reference Number: 171931
Transaction Status: Successful
Transaction Date/Time: 5-09-2015 08:05:31 AM
>From Account: 3354961409 (Current)
Amount: $5,000.00 USD
MTCN: 088-694-3669
Sender's Name: Paul Peter Akyoo
WU Reference No: 136056088
Estimated Destination FCY Amount: US Dollars $5,000.00
Exchange Rate: 13.8546 ZAR South African Rand
Tax Invoice No.: 3324-990-351430-081204
GST @ 13.8: R69,282.53 ZAR
Transaction Amount: $5,000.00 USD
Total Amount Payable: $5,000.00 USD
Purpose Code: TRANSACTION OF R69,282.53 ZAR AND BELOW
Test Question:What Color
Answer:White
=====================================================
Kindly
do fill in the form below by reconfirmed back your details to enable us
speed up this transaction amicably without delay since this transaction
has became overdue transaction and it has approved by the executive
board of directors:

(1) FULL NAME:---------------
(2) DATE OF BIRTH:---------------
(3) MARITAL STATUS-------------
(4) OCCUPATION:--------------
(5) HOME ADD----------------
(6) ZIP:--------------------
(7) CODE:-------
(8) COUNTRY:-------------
(9) NATIONALITY:--------------
(10) CELL NO----
(11) TEL:NO------
(12) FAX:NO-------
(13) PASSPORT COPY-----------

We take this opportunity to thank you for using MONEYWEB PRIVATE iBanking.

MONEYWEB PRIVATE Internet Banking

Sincerely,
Prof.Mrs.TAMMY LEE MINAAR
Executive chief operational service
Forex Dept
Moneyweb Private Bank
South Africa.
Email us at: buch@orange.sn
Tel: +27-(0) 78 127 3459

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam