419 scam: "Eric Taylor"<wumt@europeanunion.nl> From The Office Of Eric Taylor

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. )
- "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. )
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
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.
- +31644801566 (Netherlands, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Eric Taylor" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <remittanced099@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:55:44 -0700
Subject: From The Office Of Eric Taylor

ATTN: BENEFICIARY,
We write to inform you that the sum of 5,000US$ (Five Thousand Dollars) has be sent to you through Western Union as we have been given the mandate to transfer to your full compensation payment of 500,000.00US$ (Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) through Western Union Money Transfer by the European Union(EU). It is Compensation from the European Union (EU) to all Victims of the Global financial and Economic Meltdown.

We shall be sending 5,000US$ (Five Thousand Dollars) per day for you to pick up from the nearest Western Union Money Transfer office in your location for 50 Days, and 250,000US$(Two Hundred And Fifty Thousand Dollars) through Bank transfer to your nominated Bank Account in your Country.

Here is your western union Sender's information for you to check the availability of your first 5,000US$ payment on our website.(PC) Click on the link below, put the MTCN Number, then the Sender's first Name below and the Sender's Second Name, then click check status, and you will see that the Money is (Available For Pick Up By Receiver) which is you.

You can do the verification on your Personal Computer (PC)and see for yourself by using the western union web site below. Website https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=global
Sender Information's
Sender's First name: James
Sender's Last name: Gibson
Sender's Location: London United Kingdom
MTCN: 6708824595
Amount: 5,000 US$

Be informed that a hold was placed on this money on till you meet the below requirement but you can verify the availability of this money await pickup.

As we where informed by EUROPEAN UNION, AN EUROPEAN UNION BENEFICIARY REMITTANCE FILE (EU.B.R.F) MUST have to be opened for you so that the EUROPEAN UNION will have records of the beneficiaries to avoid double claims and the EUROPEAN UNION (EU) BENEFICIARY REMITTANCE FILE (EU.B.R.F) will cost you 250€ (Two Hundred and Fifty Euro) for those that are resident in the EUROPEAN COUNTIES AND 500€ (Five Hundred Euro) for Non-resident.

You are also advise to send your full detail information which will enable us input your informations into our data base as a known beneficiary, we will also prepare An EU Certificate Of Beneficiary in your name. Send Your Name, Country & Home Address, Age, Sex and Your Tell Number to the office of the EUROPEAN UNION CLEARANCE OFFICER stated below for clearance and release of your payment.
MR.VAN DIRK
Hoofdorp 6402132 MK Noord
Holland
THE NETHERLANDS
EMAIL: fastpayoutdept@w.cn
TEL: +31-644 801 566
FAX: +31-84-732-1482

Be informed that as soon as your payment and the above informations are received, we will release the hold on your first 5,000 US$ payment which is with the western union awaiting your pickup then will an account be setup for you so that we can start transferring the balance to you. Please NOTE that this MONEY CAN NOT be DEDUCTED from because it has been INSURED by the EUROPEAN UNION.

Note also that the Fund/Payment will be made in installments, in these orders:
1. 5,000 US$ made payable to you from Western Union Daily for 50 days, which will be a total of 250,000 US$
2. 250,000 US$ made payable to you via bank wire transfer from our designated paying bank to a western union account that will be setup for you.
Best regards,

Eric Taylor.
Program Co-ordinating Officer
©2011- European Union. All Rights Reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam