419 scam: "Western Union Head Office" <wet0000p@yahoo.com> (no subject)

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. )
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.
- +2348078666396 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Western Union Head Office" <wet0000p@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: wet0000p@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 21:54:32 +0200
Subject:

ATTENTION BENEFICIARY,

WE THE WESTERN UNION AGENT REMITTING OFFICE HAVE SENT YOUR FULL
COMPENSATION PAYMENT OF 270,000USD THROUGH WESTERN UNION, YOU WILL BE
RECEIVING 10.000.00USD PER DAY. NOW WE HAVE SENT THE FIRST PAYMENT TO YOU.
SO CONTACT OUR DIRECTOR DR. RICHMOND TUCKER AND ASK HIM TO SEND YOU THE
WESTERN UNION PAYMENT INFORMATION SO THAT YOU CAN BE ABLE TO PICK UP YOUR
FUNDS THROUGH WESTERN UNION WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM.

HERE IS THE CONTACT INFORMATION OF WESTERN UNION .
DIRECTOR: DR. RICHMOND TUCKER
EMAIL ADDRESS: westernoutlet@hodgesconsulting.info
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER: +2348-078-666-396

THEN CONTACT HIM WITH YOUR FULL INFORMATION TO GIVE YOU THE REFERENCE
NUMBER TO COLLECT YOUR 10,000USD.
YOUR NAME, COUNTRY, PHONE NUMBER, ADDRESS/CITY, AGE/SEX,EMAIL HIM NOW FAST
AS YOU CAN SO THAT HE CAN GIVE THE WESTERN UNION INFORMATION TO YOU.

THANKS AND GOD BLESS YOU.
HON JANE SAM .

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam