419 scam: western union office <"office."@abelia.ocn.ne.jp> Attn please,

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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. )
- "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.
Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
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 office <"office."@abelia.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mr. Agwu Ijamaka" <officewesternunion913@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 18:30:55 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Attn please,

Western Union Money Transfer.
Address: no. 5 western avenue Cotonou,
West Africa, republic Du' Benin

Attn please,
This is to notify you about the latest development concerning all your payments that are left in our custody which your were supposed to receive earlier last

year 2016. Besides, you were given a bill of $250 in order to receive your payments of which we didn$B!G(Bt hear from you for sometime now....
Hence, our western union is now offering a special bonus to help all our customers that are having their payments in our custody due to of prices in other

words; we are now requesting that you should only pay the sum of $120 only to receive your payments.
Besides, my dear these are the opportunity for
you to comply and your funds shall be transfer to your designated address.
But remember that after (3 days) you did not make the payment then we will retrieve your transfers, so try to avoid this problem because this year is not

like last years.
Again after (three days) we will enter a new project for the year and that is the reason why we decided to help you before we enter into the new project.
So we advise you to send only $120 today so that we will register and update your payments for you to start receiving your $6,000 daily as from today. Be

advice that there is no time again for we to call any person on phone unless you will call. Phone: + 229 6628-0143
After the payment of $120 you will start receiving your money every day $6,000 through western union until your total amount of funds $920.000usd dollar is

fully paid to you. Below is the mtcn numbers which you will use to pick up the first $6,000 it will be update in few hours time once we receive the fee from

you.

MTCN: 7298423178
Sender: Holly Waldon
Question: Best Color
Answer: Yellow
Amount: $6,000

Don$B!G(Bt expose this numbers to anybody else. You should send the $120 through western union money transfer with the written information below and email me back

with the payment information once you do that.

SEND THE REQUIRED FEE TO THIS INFO:

RECEIVER: John Ike
COUNTRY: BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY COTONOU
QUESTION: TODAY?
ANSWER: YES

The moment you do that, write out the payment informations written on the payment slip, forward it back to us which will enable in confirming the payment you

sent such as,

MTCN#
SENDER'S NAME
SENDER'S ADDRESS
AMOUNT:

Note; this is the only payment you are required to make in this regards for every other fee have been waived by the Federal Ministry.

As soon as we confirm the fee today, we will immediately activate your mtcn# and notify you then you go and pick up your $6,000 today as stated. Please note

that you need to go along with your passport ID or Drivers license when you need to pick up the transfer today okay.

Once you send this activate your mtcn# charges of $120 wait at the western union store to pick up your first payment within the next 2hours of the Transfer

is done

I am waiting for your urgent respond with the fee so that we can proceed immediately.

Sincerely,
Mr. Agwu Ijamaka (ESQ).
Western Union Cotonou-Benin Republic
Tel: (+229) 6628-0143

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam