419 scam: "MR. CHRISTAIN ANDERSON" <office.file0004@yahoo.com.ph> HERE IS YOUR WESTERN UNION MTCN NUMBER 010 103 4826

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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)
- "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. )
- "my direct line" (a "direct line" in a scam usually means an untraceable mobile phone number used by a scammer in an internet cafe, a redirection service number that forwards to a mobile or a free voicemailbox in a different country.)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
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.
- +22993681423 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. CHRISTAIN ANDERSON" <office.file0004@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: westernunion.union999@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 03:16:49 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: HERE IS YOUR WESTERN UNION MTCN NUMBER 010 103 4826

Western
Union
Payments

Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

SKYÂ BANK PLC

Western
UnionÂ

Send Money
Worldwide

Â

WELCOME TO WESTERN UNION MONEY
TRANSFER WORLD WIDE BENIN
REPUBLIC
COTONOU
OF WEST AFRICAN FASTER WAY OF RECEIVING MONEY.

OFFICE OF THE WESTERN UNION MONEY
TRANSFER.
COTONOU
BENIN REPUBLIC/ADDRESS 455 AGBOKOU,ANKPA ROAD
OPPOSITE
TUNDE MOTORS COTONOU.

ATTENTION MY DEAR CUSTOMER

Â

WE
ARE INSTRUCTED TO SEND YOUR FUND TO YOUR ADDRESS IN YOUR CITY FROM THE
FINACIAL DEPARTMENT HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BENIN
STATING THAT THE FUND IS YOUR INHERITANCE MONEY.YOU WILL BE RECEIVING
YOUR FUND ( $5,000 U.S.D ) PER DAY STARTING FROM TOMORROW AND YOU WILL
RECEIVE THE TOTAL SUM OF ($USD850.000.00) THROUGH OUR OFFICEÂ WESTERN
UNION DEPARTMENT WITHOUT ANY HITCH.

I
WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INFORM YOU THAT GOVERNMENT IS PLANING
TO CANCELL YOUR WINNER FUNDS AND TRANSFER IT INTO BENIN GOVERNMENT
TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTS DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE FAILED TO CONTACT US
WITH OUR REQUEST AND CLAIM YOUR FUND WITHOUT ANY HITCH OR DELAY.

YOU
ARE REQUIRE TO SEND THE SUM OF $99.00 USD BEEN FULL PAYMENT FOR THE
TRANSFER ACTIVATION FEE, TO ENABLE US RECONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT FILE FROM
THE DESK OF THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE BENIN AND YOU WILL BE ABLE
TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND WITHOUT ANY HITCH WE ARE NOT LIBERTY TO DEDUCT THE
FUND SINCE YOUR FUND IS IN ESCROW SUSPEND ACCOUNT, MEANWHILE SEND THE
$99 USD TO US IMMEDIATELY SO THAT YOU CAN BE ABLE TO PICK UP YOUR FIRST
PAYMENT FREELY FROM ANY OF OUR CORRESPONDENT WESTERN UNION OFFICE IN
YOUR STATE WITH THE INFORMATION BELOW.
Â
THE
MONEY HAVE BEEN TRANSFERED CORRECTLY TO YOUR ADDRESS WE WILL MAIL YOU
THE PAYMENT INFORMATIONS YOU NEED TO PICK UP YOUR MONEY IN ANY WESTERN
UNION ARROUND YOU CORRECTLY BUT YOU CAN NOT BE ABLE TO PICK THE FUND
UNTIL YOUR PAYMENT FILE IS BEEN RECONFIRMED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BENIN
AFTER YOU HAVE PAID THE REQUIRED $99 USD.

WHY
WE NEED YOU TO SEND US THE $99USD USD IS THAT WE TRIED TO DEDUCT THE
FEE OUT FROM YOUR FUND BUT THE MINISTER ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUND OF
BENIN REPUBLIC TOLD US THAT NO ONE HAS RIGHT OVER YOUR FUND AS IT HAVE
BEEN SIGNED AND STAMPED THAT NO MONEY SHOULD BE DEDUCTED UNTIL IT GETS
TO YOUR HANDS FOR SECURITY PURPOSE.

SO IF YOU WANT TO TRACK THE MONEY AND CONFIRM IF THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERED ENTER OUR WEBSITE WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM THEN CLICK TRACKING AND ENTER THE MTCN NUMBERâ€¦ 010 103 4826Â ENTER SENDERS FIRST NAMEâ€¦ LAWRENCE,... ENTER SENDERS LAST NAME.Â Â OZEKWE AND CLICK TRACKING AND IT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOUR FUNDS IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PICK IT UP.

BELOW IS THE PAYMENT INFORMATION OF YOUR FIRST PAYMENT.

WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM
SENDER NAME ,,,,, LAWRENCE OZEKWE
MTCN# ,,,,,,, 010 103 4826
TEST QUESTION ,,,,,, IN GOD?
TEST ANSWER ,,,,,,,WE TRUST
AMOUNT ,,,,,, $5,000 USDÂ

Â

HTTP://WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM/INFO/SELECTCOUNTRY.ASP

FINALY
URGENT IN SENDING US THE $99 USD TO ENABLE US PROCEED ON RECONFIRM YOUR
PAYMENT FILE FROM THE OFFICE INCHARGE .SEND THE FEE DIRECTLY WITH MY
NAME AS OUTLINE BELOW USE IT TO SEND THE MONEY VIA WESTERN UNION TO
ENABLE US PICK IT FROM OUR DEPARTMENT HERE AND RECONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT
FILE APPROVAL FROM THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND COMMERCE YOUR
DAILY PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY.

Here the informationÂ

RECEIVER NAME:................IKECHUKWU OBECHE

COUNTRY:..........................BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY:................................COTONOU
TEXT QUESTION:.................TO WHOM
ANSWER:..........................OBECHE

Â AMOUNT:.........................$99,00,USD
SENDER'S NAME...........................
MTCN NUMBER..............................

YOUR
URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED .WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS
YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TO QUICKEN THE PROCESS. CONTACT OUR PAYMENT
CENTRE WITH YOUR INFORMATION AND THE REQUESTED FEE

YOURS IN SERVICES
MR. CHRISTAIN ANDERSON

CALL ME ON MY DIRECT LINE ONCE YOU SEND THE $99.00 TODAYÂ TEL +229-93681423
WESTERN UNION BENIN

Indicate your payment file code of (#01-174)
Welcome to Western UnionSend Money Worldwide

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam