419 scam: "MRS EDITH WILLIAM"<edward_william@w.cn> WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

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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)
- "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. )
- "mtcn" (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. )
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "federal republic of benin" (Benin, Cameroon, etc. are no Federal Republics, unlike Nigeria where this type of scam was invented)
- "western.union.moneyt@globomail.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- "western.union.moneyt@globomail.com" (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.
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 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.
- +22996714504 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS EDITH WILLIAM" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <western.union.moneyt@globomail.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:43:59 +0100
Subject: WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

FROM THE DESK OF MRS EDITH WILLIAM
Western Union Money transfer
Welcome To Western Union Send Money Worldwide
>From The Desk Of WESTERN UNION REMMITANCE DEPT

Our Ref:WUMT0XX2/9

GOOD DAY,

There is an issue with the WESTERN UNION TRANSFER UNITED UNITED STATE OF AMERICA inthe amount of US$4.5m directed in cash credited to fileKTU/9023118308/03, at the owner of this email address . The INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND contacted us for the release of your money acouple of hours ago due to your allocated security code. They said that they choose to send it to you throug western union instead of courrier services because there's many fake courrier company here so we dont trust any of them. We are unable to complete a transfer directed at anemail address,so we require some more information in order to completethis transfer.

FULL NAME:
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:
MOBILE PHONENUMBER:
MARITAL STATUS AND AGE:
CONTACT THE WESTERN UNION MONEYTRANSFER WITH THIS
E-MAIL:(western.union.moneyt@globomail.com)
Contact Name;Dossou Mecha
Phone number +229 967 145 04

Note: That this is not one of those African scams that all they are after is to ripe you off your money and at the end you will not receive your funds, but note that this is no scam and is directly from the Management of Western Union Money Transfer benin Republic Head Office and our Motto is To Serve You Better. we will be sending you $5000 Dollars every day because to transfer the total money to your account will cost you big money for the transfering.that is why united nations give us order to be sending you$5000 Dollars every day and bellow is the information of the first transfer to your name and you are advised to go to our web site and track your money and confirm the avialability of your transfer of$5000,000USD:

SENDER'S NAME:......EDWIN NWEKE
TEXTQUESTION:.....HONESTY
ANSWER:........ ALWAYS
CODE...........303
MTCN:.........9154936620
AMOUNTSENT:......$5000.00
Contact us on our E-maiL:(western.union.moneyt@globomail.com)
Phone number +229 934-197-01
Director Name Dossou Mecha .

also note that you would be receiveing $5000 for each transfer that's how we are going pay you your US$4.5M US$5000 Dollars per a transfer.

THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER,BENIN HEAD OFFICE.DISPATCHED THIS DAY
BEST REGARDS,
MRS EDITH WILLIAM

Yours in service
Financial Minister
Federal republic of Benin

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam