419 scam: "MR. CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY" <kiran@systemart.com> FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS (F.B.I)

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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. )
- "fund beneficiary" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
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.
- imfof67@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY" <kiran@systemart.com>
Reply-To: imfof67@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2023 04:14:33 +0100
Subject: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS (F.B.I)

--
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.

Attention Fund 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 an 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 $2.5million 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 ATM VISA CARD or CHECK.

We have successfully notified this company on your behalf that funds are
to be drawn from a registered bank within the world winded, to enable
you receive your fund instantly without any delay, henceforth the stated
amount of $2.5million 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 contact the IMF Office in Benin Republic to
settle the following bills directly to the IMF Office,

(1) Deposit Fee's (IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE)
(2) Shipping Fee's ( This is the charge for shipping the ATM VISA CARD
to your home address)

The total amount for everything is $285.00 We have tried our possible
best to indicate that this $285.00 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 IMF Office
in-charge of this transaction In order to proceed with this
transaction,you will be required to contact IMF director in-charge
(KARIM BARHOUMI)via e-mail. Kindly look below to find appropriate
contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: MR. KARIM BARHOUMI
E-mail address: imfof67@gmail.com

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

1. Name in full.
2. Address.
3. Nationality.
4. Age.
5. Occupation.
6. Phone No.
7. Present Country.
8. Fax [optional].
9. Email address.

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details
on how to send the required $285.00 in order to immediately ship your
prize of $2.5 Million USD via ATM VISA CARD or CHECK from IMF. Make your
option on how you want to receive your payment, also include the
following transaction code in order for him to immediately identify this
transaction: EA2948-910. This letter will serve as proof that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required
$285.00 ONLY to KARIM BARHOUMI. via information, in, which he shall send
to you, Yours in Service,
Regards.

MR. CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS (F.B.I)

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam