419 scam: "FBI OFFICE"<tech@alo.ru> FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C..

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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:
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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)
- "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
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.
- imfofficebenin03@citromail.hu (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "FBI OFFICE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ofile1579@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2017 09:56:12 -0700
Subject: FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C..

Anti-Terrorist And Monetary Crimes Division

FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Federal Bureau Of Investigation

J.Edgar Hoover Building

935 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw

Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY

This e-mail has been issued to you in order to Officially inform you that we

have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was

issued to you by International Lottery Company. With the help of our newly developed

technology (International Monitoring Network System) we discovered that your e-

mail address was automatically selected by an Online Balloting System, this has

legally won you the sum of $4.8 million USD from a Lottery Company outside the

United States of America. During our investigation we discovered that your e-

mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we have authorized this

winning to be paid to you via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT.

Normally, it will take up to 5 business days for an INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED

BANK DRAFT by your local bank. We have successfully notified this company on

your behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered bank within the world

winded, so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any delay,

henceforth the stated amount of $4.8 million USD has been deposited with IMF.

We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to receive the

winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100%

risk free, due to the fact that the funds have been deposited with IMF you will

be required to settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent in-

charge of this transaction whom is located in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

According to our discoveries, you were required to pay for the following,

(1) Deposit Fee's ( IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE )

(2) Shipping Fee's ( This is the charge for shipping the Cashier's Check to

your home address)

The total amount for everything is $96.00 We have tried our possible best to

indicate that this $96.00 should be deducted from your winning prize but we

found out that the funds have already been deposited to IMF and cannot be

accessed by anyone apart from you the winner, therefore you will be required to

pay the required fee's to the Agent in-charge of this transaction

In order to proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact the

agent in-charge ( MR. COLA SMITH ) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find

appropriate contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: MR. COLA SMITH

PHONE NUMBER:+22995576491

Email: ( imfofficebenin03@citromail.hu )

You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

FULL NAME:

ADDRESS:

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP CODE:

DIRECT CONTACT NUMBER:

OCCUPATION:

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details on how

to send the required $96.00 in order to immediately ship your prize of $4.8

million USD via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT from IMF, also include the

following transaction code in order for him to identify this transaction :

EA2948-910.

This letter will serve as proof that the Federal Bureau Of Investigation is

authorizing you to pay the required $96.00 ONLY to MR. COLA SMITH via

information in which he shall send to you,

MR.Andrew McCabe

Federal Bureau of Investigation F B I

Yours in Service,Photograph of

Andrew McCabe

Acting Director, Andrew McCabe,

III Director Office of Public Affairs

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam