419 scam: MR JONAS EDU <benjohn190@yahoo.cn> Contact Person: MR. ERIC DON

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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. )
- "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. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "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.
- +22998677751 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- e.bank90@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: MR JONAS EDU <benjohn190@yahoo.cn>
Reply-To: e.bank90@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:47:27 +0800 (CST)
Subject: Contact Person: MR. ERIC DON

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WELCOME
TO WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER

Contact Person: MR. ERIC DON

Tell phone Number: +229
98677751

ECOBANK
PLC, DEPT OF WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.
ADDRESS:411
GREATER.H.STREET
COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC,
W7 7DB, HAMPSTEAD ROAD,
CALL
US ON +229 98677751

ATTN:

THI IS FOR YOUR HELP PLEASE YOU ARE
ADVISE TO GO TROUGH THIS EMAIL CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND AND READY
TO COMPLY WITH THE CONTENTS BEFORE REPLYING TO IT. WE ARE INSTRUCTED BY JULIUS
BERGER MULTI-NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY ON THEIR AWARD WINNING TO UNITED
STATE, ASIA AND EUROPEAN CITIZEN WHO ARE TO RECEIVE THE BELOW MENTIONED AMOUNT,
SO YOUR NAME HAPPEN TO BE IN THE LIST OF BENEFICIARIES. SO YOU WILL BE RECIEVING
USD$2.8Million FROM THIS DEPARTMENT OF ECOBANK (WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER),
YOU WILL BE RECEIVING USD$20,000.00 SPLITTED INTO FIVE (5) DAILY ON THE
INSTALLMENT OF USD$4,000.00 PER CASHED AT ANY WESTERN UNION OUTLET UNTIL IT
COMPLETE THE CORRECT AMOUNT (USD$2.8Million). SO THAT MEANS YOU WILL BE
RECEIVING FIVE (5) MTCN NUMBER PER DAY, USD$4,000.00 INTO FIVE THAT'S
USD$20,000.00 PER DAY.

MEANWHILE YOU ARE REQUIRE TO BE SENDING US THE
TRANSFER CHARGES $125, THAT IS IF YOU SEND US TRANSFER CHARGES WE WILL RELEASE
YOUR INFORMATION TO PICK UP YOUR FUND AND WHEN YOU'VE RECEIVED THE FUND, YOU
WILL SEND US THE TRANSFER CHARGES OF NEXT DAY TRANSFER THEN WE RELEASE THE NEXT
DAY PICK UP INFORMATION. BECAUSE WE ARE GIVEN ONLY FIFTEEN BUSINESS DAYS
(15DAYS) TO GET THE TRANSFER COMPLETED VIA OUR SERVICE AND SUBMIT TRANSFER SLIP
TO THEM AT THE END OF THE TRANSFER.

It became imperative to contact you
on the subject matter because after the fund has been brought to our office to
remit somebody from your country by name Victor James contacted us and said you
are on sick bed and ordered him to contact us to remit the USD$2.8Million using
his information to pick up your fund presently under our custody for transfer on
your behalf.
The Official responsible for the presentation of your money
valued USD$2.8Million Winning quickly granted approvals to their application now
waiting for final endorsement from Board of Trustees.

When our ECOBANK
Debit Note was submitted to my desk for final Approvals before forwarding it to
Board for endorsement, I noticed that there are discrepancies as there was no
evidence of authorisation letter from you for Victor James to receive the fund
on your behalf. I urgently summoned The Official responsible for the
presentation of the winning and directed him to stop the movement of the funds
and at the same time placed a stop order instruction on the funds pending when
your views and comments are received with regards to this matter.

I
hereby urged you to call or email me urgently for your comments which will be
highly appreciated if you are still alife or not on sick bed, because we will
not hesitate to continue the payment transfer activation with the name of the
gentleman on claim if no response come from you. Contact me on this number :
+229 8677751or e-mail me back using this address (e.bank90@yahoo.com)
as your silence will be a clear indication that you authorised her to effect the
above changes . Here is the payment information you can use to send the
fee.
1..RECEIVER NAME:.............Edu Jack
2.COUNTRY:............. BENIN REPUBLIC .
3.CITY
:............... COTONOU .
4..TEST QUESTION:....God Is
5.TEST
ANSWER:......Good.
6.SENDER NAME.......
7
.MTCN.............

Also fill the information below to help us facilitate your transfer
via western union.

1) Your Full Name:.............
2) Country and
Mobile #:..........
3) Home/ Office Address:....
4) Profession and
Age:.......
YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED!

REGARDS,
ERIC
DON
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS,
ECOBANK PLC WESTERN UNION
DEPT

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam