419 scam: Mr Douglas Hall <office------da5766@att.net> OFFICE OF THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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. )
- "tax clearance" (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. )
- "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)
- "tax clearance" (Tax offices mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. Even after you pay their fake tax demands you will still not receive the non-existent funds you have been promised. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "www-western-union1@live.fr" (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.
- +22999413897 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: Mr Douglas Hall <office------da5766@att.net>
Reply-To: www-western-union1@live.fr
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 03:11:36 -0800 (PST)
Subject: OFFICE OF THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.

@media Screen
{
SPAN.skype_pnh_print_container {
DISPLAY: none! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container {
BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px! important; BORDER-TOP: 0px; DISPLAY: inline! important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px! important; FONT-WEIGHT: bold! important; FONT-SIZE: 11px! important; BACKGROUND: no-repeat 0px 0px; FLOAT: none! important; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px! important; MARGIN: 0px; WORD-SPACING: normal! important; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline! important; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none! important; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; CURSOR: hand! important; COLOR: #49535a! important; DIRECTION: ltr! important; TEXT-INDENT: 0px! important; LINE-HEIGHT: 14px! important; PADDING-TOP: 0px! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-STYLE: normal! important; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif! important; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap! important; LETTER-SPACING: 0px! important; POSITION: static! important; HEIGHT: 14px! important; TEXT-DECORATION: none! important; WORD-WRAP: break-word! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container {
BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px! important; BORDER-TOP: 0px; DISPLAY: inline! important; PADDING-LEFT: 0px! important; FONT-WEIGHT: bold! important; FONT-SIZE: 11px! important; BACKGROUND: no-repeat 0px 0px; FLOAT: none! important; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px! important; MARGIN: 0px; WORD-SPACING: normal! important; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline! important; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none! important; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; CURSOR: hand! important; COLOR: #49535a! important; DIRECTION: ltr! important; TEXT-INDENT: 0px! important; LINE-HEIGHT: 14px! important; PADDING-TOP: 0px! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; FONT-STYLE: normal! important; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif! important; WHITE-SPACE: nowrap! important; LETTER-SPACING: 0px! important; POSITION: static! important; HEIGHT: 14px! important; TEXT-DECORATION: none! important; WORD-WRAP: break-word! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_common {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_common_inactive_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_common {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_common_active_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_fax {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_common_inactive_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_fax {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_common_active_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_fax SPAN.skype_pnh_right_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -71px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_fax SPAN.skype_pnh_right_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -71px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_free {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_free_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_free SPAN.skype_pnh_dropart_flag_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0px 1px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_free SPAN.skype_pnh_textarea_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -71px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_inactive_free SPAN.skype_pnh_text_span {
VISIBILITY: hidden! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_free {
BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/numbers_free_icon_set.gif)! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_free SPAN.skype_pnh_dropart_flag_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0px 1px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_free SPAN.skype_pnh_textarea_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -135px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_highlighting_active_free SPAN.skype_pnh_text_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -135px 0px; COLOR: #ffffff! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_left_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0px 0px; WIDTH: 6px! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_dropart_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -11px 0px; WIDTH: 27px! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_dropart_wo_arrow_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -11px 0px; WIDTH: 18px! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_dropart_flag_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: 1px 1px; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(skype-ie-addon-data://res/flags.gif)! important; WIDTH: 18px! important
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_textarea_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -90px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_text_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -90px 0px
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container SPAN.skype_pnh_right_span {
BACKGROUND-POSITION: -52px 0px; WIDTH: 15px! important
}

}

@media Print
{
SPAN.skype_pnh_print_container {

}
SPAN.skype_pnh_container {
DISPLAY: none! important
}
}
SPAN.skype_pnh_mark {
DISPLAY: none! important
}
P {
MARGIN: 0px
}
UL {
MARGIN-TOP: 5px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px
}
OL {
MARGIN-TOP: 5px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px
}

Western
Unionåº

Welcome to Western
Union
Send Money
Worldwide
OFFICE OF
THE WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER. COTONOU
BENIN REPUBLIC/ADDRESS 455 AGBOKOU,ANKPA ROAD
OPPOSITE TUNDE MOTORS COTONOU.

tel.
Â phone +229 994 138
97.

Â
Dear
Customer,
Â
There is an issue
involving $1.2 MUSD which was called to Our Bank(CAPITAL CITY BANK) from THE
FEDRAL MINISTRY
OF FINANCE OF BENIN REPUBLIC concerning your compensation of
$1.200,000.00 USD has been forwarded to Western Union Money
Transfer and An instruction has come directly from Mr.Jona Akim of
Ministry Of Finance.He asked us to start sending your fund installmentally $5000
per a day through western union money transfer.
Â
This type of transfer
means you will be recieving $5000 every day through western union until the
total of $1.2 MUSD is completely transfered to you. Today,our bank has effected
your first payment of $5000 through western union.Now you have to Contact
Dr.Joseph terry.Email on his contact below as he is the person incharge of your
payment.
Â
The Western union
Agent is:Name:Dr.Joseph terry.Email;(www-western-union1@live.fr)
Tel+229 99413897.Money sent
Though Cornelis Zwaagstra, amount sent $5,000.00 in your name today. So contact
Dr.Joseph terrÂ above email address and tell him to give you needed information
and also for him to help you pick the $5,000.00.Recomfirm your
address.
Â
(1)Your Full name:
(2)Your Phone number:
(3)Your Contact
address
(4)Your AgeÂ
Â
You will also have to send them the tax
clearance charges of $368usd[as per the instruction from the International
Monetary Fund(I.M.F office)]Pls contact williams terry ASAP and send them the
fee for them to send you the pick up information for your first $5000
payment.Â
Â
Mr Douglas
Hall
For The management.
Western Union Department
Cotonou,Benin
republic
Tel:+229-994 138
97,

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam