419 scam: ANTI-FRAUD DEPARTMENT <idrissi.larbi1@gmail.com> DEAR BENEFICIARY

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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:
- "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. )
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
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 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.
- westernunion724office@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: ANTI-FRAUD DEPARTMENT <idrissi.larbi1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: westernunion724office@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 09:05:37 -0800
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY

--
Attention: Beneficiary

This is to inform you that we have been working towards the
eradication of fraudsters and scam Artists in Africa with the help of
the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). We have been
able to track down so many of this scam artist in various parts of
African countries and Europe, which includes (Nigeria, Burkina Faso,
United Kingdom, Spain, Ghana, Cameroon and Senegal) and they are all
in Government custody now, they will appear at International Criminal
Court (ICC) soon for Criminal/Fraud Justice.

During the course of our investigation, we have been able to recover
so much money from these scam artists. The United Nations Anti-Crime
Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have ordered that
the money recovered from the Scammers be shared among the emails that
we found in their system for compensation. This Email/Letter has been
directed to you because your email address was found in one of the
scam Artists file and computer hard-disk during the investigation,
maybe you have been scammed. You are therefore being compensated with
the sum of ($650,000.00 USD) (Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand United
State Dollars).

You can visit the link below for confirmation :

https://www.westernunion.com/web/global-service/track-transfer

YOUR TRACKING NUMBER (MTCN 3855844017 )

Contact us through this email for more verification (
westernunion724office@gmail.com )

Regards!

Mr. Toure L. Yaro
Western Union Director
Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam