419 scam: US Treasury Department <info@ustreasurydepartment.org> From The US Treasury Department (Attention: 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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "dr.chrismeares@auditores.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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!
This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447035945630 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: US Treasury Department <info@ustreasurydepartment.org>
Reply-To: info-hsbcbankuk@uku.co.uk
Date: 7 Nov 2009 13:32:05 -0000
Subject: From The US Treasury Department (Attention: Beneficiary)

Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220.
Ref: IF-FDS-VOL 711-2009
Dated: 07-11-2009

Attention: Beneficiary,

Following the United States of America and World Bank Mandate of August 2009 on foreign payment and debt settlement, our office(United States Department of Treasury office of the secretary) has finally been granted approval to alert all associated debtors, Next of Kin Beneficiary, Category Contractors with the United Nations Countries with Nigeria Government on the payment approval notice by the World Bank Auditors and International Monetary Fund. Your payment file has been reviewed and processed for payment by this office and adequate measures have been taken to that effect.

However, we have also attached this letter along to the World Bank Auditors for payment Schedule and foreign allocation serial number for onward transfer of the approved sum to your designated bank account with the file/payment approval number: RE-WDB-US 5678A. Thus, we contact you for confirmation before transfers commence to your designated bank account as observed in your payment file. As a matter of urgency, you are hereby advised to confirm officially to the payment Normalization office the below data of yours for prompt and swift settlement of your outstanding payment.

Beneficiary Full Name & Address
Contact Tel & Fax Numbers
Present Occupation/age
Payment Reference Number
Receiving Banking Details
Attached copy of Driver's License or international passport.

To this effect, you are therefore expected to liaise urgently with the Chief Executive, Inheritance Payment team (Dr.Chris M. Meares) The Head of Inheritance Funds payment section HSBC BANK LONDON ; upon receipt of this message through the outlined contact details.

The Head of Inheritance Funds payment section HSBC BANK LONDON;
Name: Dr.Chris M. Meares
Tel; +44-7035945630
Direct office Email address: dr.chrismeares@auditores.com
Website: www.hsbc.co.uk

During the event of your contact with him, we also advise that you refer him to the below release code number for payment identifications, thereafter you will be informed on the payment proceeds.

Receiving inheritance amount: US$17million United States Dollars
Payment Approval Code: RE-WDL-US 5678C
File Reference Number : USGV / 3840 / 24-09
RELEASE CODE: = HSBC/BN/XXCY/WK3/008/2009
SEQUENCE NUMBER: = NNCB/B12/0XX/09
TRANSACTION NUMBER: = CBN/R0/00XX/09
SWIFT NUMBER: = HSBC/FGN/NXXWFT/3209
FOREX ALLOCATION: = FGN/CBN/360XYX/2008/XXZ

Once more expedite actions toward the contact with the above named person; we have advised him further on all procedures and instructions about the release of your payment for prompt settlement. We sincerely apologize on behalf of the United States/Nigerian government for the irregularities and delay so far. Moreover, we thank you for your kind understanding in this matter.

Note that the officials in HSBC Bank London have been authorized to handle this payment to keep a clean state of foreign debt settlement because some Spanish Government officials and individuals have tried to transfer this inheritance fund to you but failed due to dishonesty and unnecessary demand for fees, the United States Department of the treasury and Nigeria Government will not be interested in any complaint from you if you fail to receive your fund via this program or fail to abide by this instruction.

Finally, as our payment procedure entails you are strictly warned to desist and terminate any and all communication with any and every people previously in contact with you regarding this settlement for the smooth and onward release of the funds.

Your urgent attention is expected

Yours in active service,
Tim Geithner
Office of the Secretary of the Treasury United States.

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