419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

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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:
- "atm payment department" (this phrase is often used in the ATM card payment scam)
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "clearance document" (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)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "interl.departm2@msn.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.
- +22993126095 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT FINANCIAL BANK <deskofficiall@sify.com>
Reply-To: interl.departm2@msn.com
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:01:08 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: =?utf-8?B?VGhlIEFnZW50IGhhcyBhcnJpdmVkIGluIE9STEFORE8gRkxPUklEQSB3aXRo?=
=?utf-8?B?IHBhY2thZ2UgQ29kZSBGZEV4NTctQkM1OS02NTIxMDEu4oCP4oCP?=

Dear Sir,

Â Â Â This is in response to file passed to us from the highest authorities. Thank you for your email and the informations you send to us, We received an emails from a man called, By name Dr. Robert Dowling he said that he is your friend, Please here come a big question how do he know about this Atm card on your name?Â he called us yesterday with his phone number claimed that you are dead , he said that we should devert your ATM CARD to his home address.Â Furthermore you are advice to be very fast as the Agent Deparker has no time to waste due to his flight ticket and he have only today to stay before he can go back by tomorrow morning. Please note that we receive call from the agent this morning and he said that the custom has holdup your package there in USA, and the requested for yellow tag and clearance documents and they said that the document is needed today and i have called many offices and they said that the cost of the documents is $38Â
(US$) and you have to send it today is the final day before it will be too late. We will courier all the enter document that cover this transfer together with the ATM.Â we have a meetting today that you have to send us the fee of $38 (US$)) to get you a certificate of clearance to prove to Dr. Robert Dowling that you are still alive.

Â Â Â He said that we should send it to himÂ because he is the next of kin to you,Â convince me that you are still alive, because the man said that he will be in our office by tomorrow morning to to sign the document to prove that you are deathÂ and he will provide your International pass-port to us . Please convince me now so that i will not devert your Atm card to him.Â he said that you died yesterday night. and they are here to claim your Atm card. he said that she is willing to pay any money to make sure that the Atm card is send to his destination address.Â please let me know if this is true or not as am confused now and if we do not see your response as soon as possible then we will knowÂ is true and enrooted you're Atm card to his destination address.

You are advice to send the money with the below details,Â Furthermore remember the Agent delivering the package does not know the content of that of the package So act on your party by sending the $38Â (US$) via western union or money gram only with the below details:

Senders Name:----
Recivers name:---- Jona Uzoma Simple
Country:--- Benin Republic
City:-- Cotonou
Question:----Who is our savior?
Answer:---The Lord Jesus
MTCN:--------
Amount:--$38 (US$)

Â Forward the MTCN, Q and A to this email :Â interl.departm2@msn.comÂ to enable us issue the transfer to your position accordingly.Â So that the delivery agent will deliver your atm package to you by today without any further delay again.Â Please try all you can to send this fee today and call the agent today.Â AGENT NAME: Paul George. Tele: +1 206-426-6305. Fax: +1 206-426-6017. Please make sure that you send this fee today so that we can finishup every things today without any further delay again.

Waiting to hear from you soon.

Thanks and we remain the Financial Bank Customer care promising to serve you better.

Regard
Mr. Williams Peter.
Tele: +22993126095
The Director of Atm payment department financial bank Benin Republic.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam