419 scam: "MRS. FARIDA MZAMBER WAZIRI" <oficefile0005@gmail.com> EFCC HAS TAKEN OVER YOUR TRANSACTION

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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:
- "activation fee" (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. )
- "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)
- "transfer of your funds" (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)
- "hundred thousand us dollars" (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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "farida mzamber waziri" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "charles soludo" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "terrydonatt@w.cn" (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.
- +22996478669 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS. FARIDA MZAMBER WAZIRI" <oficefile0005@gmail.com>
Reply-To: terrydonatt@live.com
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:58:05 +0530 (IST)
Subject: EFCC HAS TAKEN OVER YOUR TRANSACTION

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY

This e-mail has been issued to you from the office of the present Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Robert S. Mueller III). After proper investigations, we discovered that your impending payment that have been withheld by imposters, claiming to be Professor Charles Soludo (Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria), Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr. Frank Nweke, Mr.Mark James of Western Union Benin and None existing officials of the Bank Of Africa Bank of Benin and Zenith Bank, UK winning Lottery, Senator David Mark, Andy Lear of HSBC Bank, Coca-Cola winning lottery and among a list of others is now under our custody with the help of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Local Police Force.

Investigations revealed that you have spent a lot of your personal earned money just to conclude the successful transfer of your funds to your nominated bank account by obtaining transfer documents as requested by the imposters, costing you a lot of money but all to no avail. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had to send some financial crime investigators from our head quarters in Washington DC to Africa in order to carry out proper investigation, after receiving series of other reports similar to yours as you are not the only person awaiting the legal transfer of funds from Africa.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has given authority to the International Monetary Funds (IMF) to assist the Federal Ministry of Finance and all the organizations involved; such as the Central Bank, Zenith Bank, and Legit lottery organizations to immediately commence with the compensation of all the beneficiaries awaiting the successful transfer of their funds.

With the help of some of the best Internet Investigators attached to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we traced your information from the Internet as one of the beneficiaries awaiting the successful transfer of funds to your nominated account. I am pleased to inform you that a meeting was held in regards to the best way to carry out with the compensation exercise for transparency and most especially to avoid reoccurrence of the delay in transferring your funds and the high cost of procuring transfer documents and came to a final conclusion as all head of organizations involved was duly represented.

You have been approved to receive the total sum of $6,500,000.00 (Six Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars) which has been deposited in a bank located in Benin Republic - Standard Chartered Bank Plc. You have also been approved to receive a Valid International Debit / ATM Card which will be issued from the bank and then delivered to your designated Home Address via LA POSTE. Presently, The Federal Bureau of Investigation has concluded with the IMF to grant the bank authorization to issue you the Debit Card and also activate your account held at Standard Chartered Bank According to the bank's rules and regulations, you will be required to pay a one-time fee of $330 to your Account Officer at Standard Chartered Bank Plc which will be required for the following:

(1) International Account Activation Fee (Since the IMF released the funds to the bank, the bank has NOT activated the account for withdrawal due to the fact that you are located overseas and the account is located in Benin. Therefore, in order to activate the account for Online Wire Transfer, you will be required to activate the account for use firstly)

(2) ATM / Debit Card Authorization Fee (This is required due to the fact that you intend withdrawing money from your Debit / ATM Card from an International Country other than Benin Republic)

Once you have paid the requested $330 to your Account Officer via Western Union Money Transfer, he will immediately provide the receipt to the bank and then the bank will immediately dispatch your Debit/ATM Card to your designated address. Our office is fully aware of the fact that it is hard to trust e-mail's being issued out to individuals, therefore we have included Online Banking access information below in which you shall use to verify that your funds are available at Standard Chartered Bank Plc . Kindly follow instructions below to confirm your funds:

Once you have confirmed availability of your funds. You will be required to immediately proceed to a Western Union Money Transfer outlet and send the sum of $330 to the following information below:

NAME OF RECEIVER: GABRIEL AUGUSTINE
CITY: COTONOU
COUNTRY: BENIN REPUBLIC
TEST QUESTION: HOW LONG
ANSWER: IMMEDIATELY
AMOUNT TO SEND: $330

Immediately you complete the transaction, you will be required to send your account officer (Mr.Terry Donattius) via the following information:

ACCOUNT OFFICER NAME: TERRY DONATTIUS
CONTACT E-MAIL ADDRESS: terrydonatt@w.cn
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER: +229-96478669

You are required to send your account officer the following information ONLY after you have completed the Western Union payment of $1,330. Send him the following information:

YOUR FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
DIRECT PHONE NUMBER:
10 DIGIT MTCN CONTROL NUMBER GIVEN ON THE WESTERN UNION RECEIPT:

Please note that if you are able to send the requested fee of $330 to your account officer today, your Debit/ATM card will be delivered to you within 24 hours after receipt of the payment. You are also advised to immediately STOP all communications between you and these impostors so as to enable a safe delivery of your ATM Card to your designated address.

Yours Sincerely,

MRS. FARIDA MZAMBER WAZIRI (CHAIRMAN EFCC) CHAIRMAN
EFCC INVESTIGATION OFFICE

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam