419 scam: "MR. IBRAHIM MUSTAFA MAGU"<user@vultr.com> Scam Victims Compensation Fund..

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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. )
- "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. )
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "federal high court" (This court is often mentioned in '419' scams to give the victim a reason why he/she should send thousands of dollars to the scammers. A 'Federal High Court' exists in Germany and Nigeria, but not in other countries, such as the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Senegal, Benin, South Africa or other countries where fake lawyers in scams often claim to be based. )
- "lagos" (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.

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. IBRAHIM MUSTAFA MAGU" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <efccnigofficeibmagu@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2018 20:54:17 -0700
Subject: Scam Victims Compensation Fund..

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
FEDERAL SECRETARIAT COMPLEX, LAGOS, NIGERIA.

No. 15 A, Awolowo Rd, Lagos 101233
TRANSFER FRAUD ALERT/ ATTEMPTED DIVERSION OF FUNDS.

With Due Respect ,

Dear Respected One

An email report and notification has been received by me MR. IBRAHIM MUSTAFA MAGU , I am the Acting Chairman of the ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (E.F.C.C).

The Federal Government President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR , has mandated us to investigate these people that collected your money from you, and before this will be take place you are going to inform my office how much money is the total money that was taken from you.

The Federal Government of Nigeria through provisions in Section 419 of the Criminal Code came up with punitive measures to deter and punish offenders. The Advance Fee Fraud section deals mainly with cases of advance fee fraud(commonly called 419) such as obtaining by false presence through different fraudulent schemes e.g. contract scam, credit card scam, inheritance scam, job scam, loan scam, lottery scam, “wash wash” scam (money washing scam), marriage scam. Immigration scam, counterfeiting and religious scam. It also investigates cyber crime cases.

This is to officially announce to you that some scam Syndicates were apprehended in Lagos, Nigeria few weeks ago and after several interrogations and tortures your details were among those mentioned by some of the scam Syndicates as one of the victims of their operations.

After proper investigations and research at Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram office to know if you have truly sent money to the scam Syndicates through Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram, your name was found in Western Union Money Transfer database among those that have sent money through Western Union Money Transfer to Nigeria and this proves that you have truly been swindled by those unscrupulous persons by sending money to them in the course of getting one fund or the other that is not real, right now we are working hand in hand with Western Union and Interpol to track every fraudsters down, do not respond to their e-mails, letters and phone calls any longer they are scammers and you should be very careful to avoid being a victim to fraudsters any longer because they have nothing to offer you but to rip-off what you have worked hard to earn.

Secondly the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has given a new law due to the way fraud is all over the world, for us to be very sure that we are not dealing with the wrong person, one year ago there was a woman from Australia who was scammed and after all our investigation her lost fund was returned back to her account without any delay, and for the Nigeria government to carry out your file process, you have to make the payment of $120, for verification.

You should have every confidence and faith as soon as this payment of $120 is made, immediately your final verification will take place and the FEDERAL HIGH COURT will give out the approval to the African Development Bank to transfer your lost fund back to your account. Please we are sorry for all that happened to you.

Listen to me, this $120, is for the office use and verification of your full details that was provided by you, as soon as this is payment copy of $120 is received correctly, you will be instructed by the African Development Bank , for the refunding of all your money that was scammed from you, God bless you.

Your Co-operation would be highly appreciated in these regards,

BEST REGARDS

MR. IBRAHIM MUSTAFA MAGU
FROM: ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIMES COMMISSION (E.F.C.C).

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam