419 scam: WESTERN UNION <duhaime_arlene@yahoo.com.hk> Winner Payment

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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:
- "transfer cost" (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. )
- ",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)
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.

Fraud email example:

From: WESTERN UNION <duhaime_arlene@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: m524353f@ymail.com
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2012 13:45:25 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Winner Payment

Attn: Valued Customer,

Failure in sending the required western union Transfer handling charges and fail attempts in previous ovations, an executive emergency meeting was held yesterday in a way to resolve this problem and to ensure you start receiving your payment, at the end of the meeting, the head of international remittance was mandated by finance ministry to set up Western union gold account in your name and paid in the overall inheritance of US$1,500,000.00 and as well release the MTCN for your first installment of $5000.00 once the commitment requirement is met.

To avoid re-occurrence of the past experience, an agreement was signed between the ministry and the Western Union board that beneficiaries should not be charge for western union transfer cost any more but rather, all beneficiaries should show commitment on their part as indication of their wiliness and support to this agreement to receive their entitlement, in view of this agreement, you are required to send $70.00 USD as commitment charges, this will enable us activate the MTCN for your first installment.

Therefore, you advised to contact our cashier payment unit in reference to this order on (westernu84@ymail.com) contact person is Mrs. Sandy Miller. For an instruction on how to send the commitment charges and as well activating the MTCN of your first installment of US$5000.00 to pick up.

THANKS & CONGRATULATIONS!

Mr. Hubert Brown.
Western Union Office
Send Money Worldwide

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam