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:

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. )
- "cotonou" (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.
- +22968734279 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: WESTERN UNION <march5.@ninus.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: WESTERN UNION <w_uniontranfer@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2016 17:18:42 +0900 (JST)
Subject: I am Mrs.Ros Williams, The Chair person in charge of Treasury
Department, International wire transfers of United State Federal Ministry
of Finance.

I am Mrs.Ros Williams, The Chair person in charge of Treasury Department, International wire transfers of United State Federal Ministry of Finance.

I want to inform you that your Payment File was brought to my desk today to Cancel because the director & management of the WESTERN UNION MONEY transfer have declared to divert your fund to the government treasury account just because you can not pay the signed wire transfer fee. In reasoning wisely to this complain i told them to wait until i hear from you today so that i will know the reason why you decide to rejected such amount of money USD950.000which is your rightful & legal overdue inheritance payment just because of signed wire transfer fee.

The reason why i sent this email to you is because its your sweat and for this reason you still have this last chance to claim your fund if you can send USD$75 today because i have already arranged your wires ready for its daily wires to you but failing to do this, i will allow them to have power over your fund and am very sorry if you failed as this is the last chance.

Therefore, send the USD $75 immediately you receive this email today and email your full name and address to me if you want your USD $950.000be send to you by western union money transfer but the maximum amount officially allow for it per day wire to you is USD $5000 per day until you receive your complete USD $950.000 from here . The second option is for you to send me the full detail of your bank account if you want your fund be fully transfer by direct bank to bank wire transfer to your account at once. After you have sent the $75 and email me the mtcn numbers, you are to indicate your wish to receive your funds as i have stated above and the funds will be release to you without any hitch.

Here is the western union information in the name of our accountant to avoid delay in receiving your fund and remember that i have done my best for you and i will make sure that your wire transfer will begin to be releasing to you from the moment you sent this $75.

Send the $75 now and send me email with the western union mtcn numbers,

Receivers Name:....... OSILIU MATTEW
COUNTRY :... BENIN REPUBLIC
City : .......COTONOU
Test Question:.. BLUE
Answer :.. BLUE
Amount to
send: ...$75
SEND MTCN NUMBER....
Sender's name.......

Send it and email the MTCN control number, amount sent, name and address of sender to me for easy collection

CONTACT
NUMBER: +229-687-34279
Thanks .

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam