419 scam: FBI Office <fbi.info@virgilio.it> Atten: 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:

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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "fbi washington" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real FBI will not tell you to contact some email address. If you are in any doubt, contact an FBI field office via www.fbi.gov. )
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: FBI Office <fbi.info@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: fbi.office@rediffmail.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:00:59 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: Atten: beneficiary,

Atten: beneficiary,
This is to inform you the United Nations organization have
signed this year donation fund, the total fund signed for the donations was
US$230,000,000.00, the organization accord that the bank in charge pay
US$5,000,000.00 to each beneficiary. To prevent manipulation FBI is been
involve, send your information for payment.

This money can only be paid to a
person who FBI approved to the bank with official letter to the bank. To
prevent fraudsters hacking in our data base and with urgency demanded we are
using this public domain.

Best Regards,
Mr. Joseph Persichini, Jr.
AssistantDirector in Charge
FBI Washington

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam