419 scam: "Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security Washington D.C."<admin@gov.us> Attn : Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security 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:

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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "insurance 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. )
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "cheque " (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. )
- "us.secretary.homeland@one.co.il" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security Washington D.C." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <us.secretary.homeland@one.co.il>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:55:06 +0800
Subject: Attn : Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security Washington D.C.

>From The Desk Of Mrs. Janet Napolitano
Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security Washington D.C.

Attention Beneficiary,

Records show that you are among one of the individuals and organizations who are yet to receive their overdue payment from overseas which includes those of Lottery/Gambling, Contract and Inheritance.

Through our Fraud Monitory Unit we have also noticed that over the past you have been transacting with some imposters and fraudsters and some imposters claiming to be
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and International Monetary Fund

The Cyber Crime Division of the Homeland Security gathered information from the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) formerly known as the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) of how some people have lost outrageous sums of money to these Imposters.

As a result of this we hereby advise you to stop communication with any one not referred to you by us.

We have negotiated with the United Nations that your payment totaling $27,500,000.00 will be released to you via a custom pin based ATM card with a maximum withdrawal limit of $20,000 a day which is powered by Visa Card and can be used anywhere in the world for for withdraw or transaction.

We have advised that this should be the only way at which you are to receive your payment because it’s more guaranteed, since over $5 billion was lost on fake cheque last year 2011.

We have perfected everything in regards to the release of your $27.5 million United States Dollars to be 100% risk free and free from any hitches as it’s our duty to protect citizens of the United States of America. (This is as a result of the mandate from US Government to make sure all debts owed to citizens of American which includes Inheritance, Contract, Gambling/Lottery etc are been cleared for the betterment of the current economic status of the nation and its citizens as he has always believed “Our Time for Change has come” because “Change can happen”).

To redeem your fund you are hereby advised to abide to the insutruction below to enable the shipment of the Premium Visa Credit card and it back up document and the charge fee required to to pay the shipping and security insurance fee which is $201 only nothing more and no hidden fees as everything else has been taken care of by Federal Government; custom paper and clearance duty so all you will ever need to pay is $201 only which is for the shipping and security insurance fee.

Fill in below with your personal information.
Full Name..............
Full Address..............
Phone Number...............
Sex..........
Occupation.........
Country...............
Age.......

Please get back to me with your personal information and also a confirmation email to know if you are sending down the fee which is $201 to me or not,so that i can send down the payment information in which you are to use in making the payment of $201 down to me.

Once again i am so 100% sure of you receiving your payment at no any other cost as we have taking it upon our duty to monitor everything in other to cub cyber crime that is perpetrated by those impostors.

Thanks.
us.secretary.homeland@one.co.il
Mrs. Janet Napolitano
Secretary of US Department of Homeland Security
Address: 245 Murray Ln Sw # 14, Washington D.C.
About Me website: http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/gc_1232568253959.shtm

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam