419 scam: "MISS SARAH WHITE"<investigationdept@imfefcc.org> YOU ARE ADVICE TO CALL GEORGE TODAY FOR YOUR CLAIM

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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:
- "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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "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. )
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "george@secretarias.com" (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.
- +2348129036427

Fraud email example:

From: "MISS SARAH WHITE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <george@secretarias.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:26:57 -0700
Subject: YOU ARE ADVICE TO CALL GEORGE TODAY FOR YOUR CLAIM

Hello

The Federal Government of Nigeria through provisions in Section 419 of the Criminal Code came up with punitive measures to detian and punish offenders. The Advance

Fee Fraud section deal mainly with cases of advance fee fraud(commonly called 419) such as obtaining by false pretense through different fraudulent schemes e.g.

contract scam, credit card scam, check scam, inheritance scam, job scam, loan scam, lottery scam, “wash wash” scam (money washing scam), marriage scam. Immigration

scam, counterfeiting and religious scam. It also investigates cybercrime cases.

This is to officially announce to you that some scam Syndicates were apprehended all around Europe ,Asia all of them where send to Nigeria few days ago and after

several interrogations and tortures details related to you was mentioned by some of the scam Syndicates as one of the victims of their operations. After proper

investigations and research at Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram office to know if you have truly sent money to the scam Syndicates through Western Union

Money Transfer or Money Gram, information related to you was found in Western Union Money Transfer database amongst those that have sent money through Western Union

Money Transfer to Nigeria and other part of europe and asia and this proves that you have truly been swindled by those unscrupulous persons by sending money to them in

the course of getting your fund but unfortunately you have being dealing with the wrong set of officials, right now we are working hand in hand with Interpol to track

every fraudsters down, you are advice to stop all communication with them today

In this regard a meeting was held between the Board of Directors of The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ,International monetary funds (IMF) and as a

consequence of our investigations it was agreed that the sum of Four hundred and Eighty thousand US Dollars (US$480,000) should be transferred to you out of the

funds that Federal Government of Nigeria and the international monetary fund has set aside as a compensation to everyone who have by one way or the other sent money to

fraudulent officials . We have deposited your fund at Western Union Money Transfer agent location EMS Post office Abuja , Nigeria. We have submitted your details to

them so that your fund can be transferred to you.

Contact the agent working with Western Union through the email address and also their customer agent help line stated below inform them about this notification letter

and the transfer of your fund;

Name GEORGE OWOLABI
Email: george@secretarias.com
Help line: +234-812-903-6427

DO RECONFIRM TO HIM THE FOLLOWING

FULL NAME

YOUR ADDRESS

TELEPHONE NUMBER

YOU ARE ADVICE TO CALL HIM ON THE ABOVE NUMBER FOR TO SPEED UP YOUR CLAIM

Yours sincerely,
Sarah White (Miss)
Assistant Investigation Officer.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
15A Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.Nigeria

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has been misdirected to you, you are requested to delete this mail immediately. You are also hereby notified that any use, any form of reproduction, dissemination,

copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message, contents or its attachment(s), other than by its intended recipient(s), is

strictly prohibited. Any opinions expressed in this email are those of the individual and not necessarily of the
organization. Before opening attachment(s), please scan for viruses." All business handled under Standard Trading Conditions. Copy available on request
.
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Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam