419 scam: "First Flight Courier Services"<ffcll@firstflight.net> RE:RE: Employment Offers.

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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:
- "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. )
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "money orders " (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. )
- "cashiers check" (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. )
This email message is a company representative scam. This type of job offer scam involves the cashing of fake checks and money orders. It could expose you to losses of tens of thousands of dollars as well as to the risk of criminal prosecution and (in some cases) imprisonment.
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.

Fraud email example:

From: "First Flight Courier Services" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fflight.services@live.hk>
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:02:54 +0100
Subject: RE:RE: Employment Offers.

New Page 1
Edward Rosen, Managing director
H&M FABRICS
Office address: 21 ikoyi road,
victoria island,
Lagos,Nigeria.

www.handmfabric.com

Hello,

H&M FABRICS is in search of a bookkeeper/company representative in the United States, Canada and the UK. This project has been developed in a way not to affect your present job nor bring you any form of stress but in order to help take care of those Extra costs while you work for us.

H&M FABRICS is a company that deals in the production and supplies of Batik, Assorted African fabrics, various clothing materials, African art materials and all kinds of furniture’s for exporting to the world. Presently our website is under Construction and should be ready soon. Recently It came to my knowledge that there are a lot of lapses in handling funds coming from our clients in the US, Canada and UK which come in forms of Cashiers checks, Company checks and Money Orders which are not readily cashable outside the United States, Canada and UK,....So we need someone in the US, Canada and UK to work as our representatives and assist us in processing the payments from our various clients which come in on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. This is why we decided to employ a representative over in the US, Canada and UK to help us receive our payments at your contact address you shall be providing us, in order to process our payment from our clients. All you need to do is receive these payments from our clients in country. Get it deposited at your bank for 24hours, Cash it after 24hours then deduct your percentage (10% of each payment) plus transfer charges and forward the balance funds to one of company's representatives via Western Union.

Our payments will be issued out in your name as we would inform our clients to do. Therefore the following details would be Needed: I would require you to send me an email with the following details

1) Your Full name
2) Your Address
3) Your Phone number
4) Your Age
5) Your Occupation
6) Are You a Property Owner?
7) Do you Have Home/Business Equity Line Of Credit Account?
8) Home/Business Equity Line Of Credit Account Limit

We would forward these information’s to our clients and they will start making payments to you as the company's representative in the states, Canada or UK.
Once we have all your details in our records,. We would notify you as soon as we confirm that one of our clients is mailing Payment across to you.

Please note we have security experts, who work in hand with the FBI & IRS to detect the validity of the details you provide us,Should there be foul play.

I hope to read from you soon.

Warmest Regards,

Edward Rosen,
Managing director
H&M FABRICS
Office address: 21 ikoyi road,
victoria island,
Lagos,Nigeria

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam