419 scam: MR MARK AMBROE <"www."@vesta.ocn.ne.jp> ATTENTION, GOOD AFTERNOON

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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:
- "required 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. )
- "moneygram" (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. )
- "waiting for your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "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.
MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: MR MARK AMBROE <"www."@vesta.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: MR MARK AMBROE <moneygramoffice20169@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2016 09:51:06 +0900 (JST)
Subject: ATTENTION, GOOD AFTERNOON

MONEY GRAM INTERNATIONAL
COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC/
ADDRESS 455 AGBOKOU,ANKPA ROAD
LAGOTES PALAR.

ATTENTION, GOOD AFTERNOON

WE WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECEIPT OF YOUR EMAIL IN THIS MONEY GRAM OFFICE AND
THE CONTENT WAS WELL NOTED. WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO SEND YOUR FUND TO YOUR ADDRESS
IN YOUR CITY MONEY GRAM OFFICE FROM HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC OFFICE OF MONEY GRAM
DEPARTMENT AND YOU WILL BE RECEIVING YOUR FUND ( $5,000.00 U.S.D ) PER DAY
UNTIL YOU RECEIVE ALL YOUR TOTAL PAYMENT WHICH IS THE SUM OF $8.5MILLION AS
SCHEDULED IN OUR OFFICE HERE.

THEREFORE, BE INFORMED THAT THROUGH THIS OUR MEDIUM OF MONEY GRAM PAYMENT,
YOU ARE ENTITLED TO BE RECEIVING US$5,000.00 EVERY DAY UNTIL YOUR TOTAL FUND
WHICH IS $8.5MILLION USD IS COMPLETELY PAID TO YOU, BUT BEFORE THAT YOU WILL
HAVE TO SEND THE REQUIRED FEE OF $70 U.S.D WHICH WILL BE USED FOR THE RENEWING
AND RECONFIRMATION OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE TO ENABLE US START RELEASING YOUR
PAYMENT AS SCHEDULED.

SECONDLY WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE ALREADY MADE THE FIRST PAYMENT BUT
YOU CAN NOT PICK THE PAYMENT WHICH WE MADE ON YOUR NAME BECAUSE THE
ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUND HAVE NOT ACTIVATE THE PAYMENT DUE TO THE REQUIRED
CHARGES WHICH IS AMOUNT OF $70 U.S.D FOR THE RE-NEWING ACTIVATION AND
RECONFIRMATION FEE OF THE TOTAL PAYMENT AS NOT YET BEEN PAID THEREFORE YOU WERE
ADVISED TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE REQUIRED FEE AMOUNT OF $70 U.S.D TO ENABLE
THEM ACTIVATE THE PAYMENT SO THAT YOU WILL START RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT
IMMEDIATELY.

HERE IS YOUR FIRST PAYMENT INFORMATION TRACK IT AND SEE THAT IS AVAILABLE FOR
PICKUP. CLICK THE BELLOW LINK TO TRACK IT WWW.MONEYGRAM.COM/TRACK TO TRACK
IT

NAME OF SENDER'S:====ike
AMOUNT:======== =====$5,000.0
REFERENCE NO: ==== ==== ==== =69133972
MONEY GRAM OFFICE
COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC/
ADDRESS 455 AGBOKOU,ANKPA ROAD
LAGOTES PALAR.

NOTE: THE REASON WHY WE NEED YOU TO SEND US THE $70.00 USD IS
THAT WE TRIED TO DEDUCT THE TRANSFERRING FEE OUT FROM YOUR FUND BUT THE
MINISTER ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUND OF BENIN REPUBLIC TOLD US THAT NO ONE HAS
ACCESS OVER YOUR FUND AS IT HAVE BEEN SIGNED AND STAMPED THAT NO MONEY SHOULD
BE DEDUCTED UNTIL IT GETS TO YOU TO AVOID ANY MISUNDERSTANDING BECAUSE IF ANY
ONE HAS ACCESS TO THAT IT WILL INVOLVE YOU LOOSING YOUR FUND.

THEREFORE, YOU ARE EXPECTED TO SEND THE REQUIRED FEE SO THAT YOUR PAYMENT WILL
BE RELEASED TO YOUR CITY MONEY GRAM OFFICE IMMEDIATELY AND NOTE THAT ONCE WE
CONFIRM THE FEE, YOU ARE GOING TO CONFIRMED YOUR FIRST PAYMENT $5,000.00 USD
IMMEDIATELY OVER THERE WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY AND YOUR OTHER PAYMENTS WILL
FOLLOW AS WELL.
BELOW IS OUR ACCOUNTANT'S INFORMATION FOR YOU TO SEND THE $120U.S.D THROUGH OUR
MONEY GRAM OFFICE:

RECEIVER NAME:.........JOHN OBI
COUNTRY:............... BENIN REPUBLIC.
CITY:................... COTONOU.
TEXT QUESTION:..........IN GOD ?
ANSWER:.................WE TRUST.
AMOUNT:.................. $70 U.S.D
REFERENCE NO:...............

WE ARE WAITING FOR YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO ENABLE THIS OFFICE KNOW YOUR
ARRANGEMENT FOR THE PAYMENT AND WE WILL ALSO ADVICE YOU TO KEEP YOUR
TRANSACTION WITH US VERY CONFIDENTIAL SO THAT NOBODY WILL PICK YOUR FUND
BECAUSE WE WILL NOT BE HOLD RESPONSIBLE IF ANYBODY PICK UP YOUR FUND FROM YOUR
END.

THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AS WE ARE WAITING FOR YOUR URGENT RESPONSE SOON.

YOURS SINCERELY ,
MR MARK AMBROE
FOREIGN OPERATION MANAGER
MONEY GRAM INTERNATIONAL
PAYMENT OFFICE BENIN REPUBLIC

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam