419 scam: "Mr.Williams Philip"<info@lee.com> Attn: Beneficiary,

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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:
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "lagos" (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.
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.
- +2348022784275 (Nigeria, 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.
- www.upsoffice_nig@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.Williams Philip" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <www.upsoffice_nig@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 8 May 2013 13:13:01 -0700
Subject: Attn: Beneficiary,

UPS Office Nigeria
107, Isolo Express Road
Lagos Nigeria
Tel +234-8022784275
EMAIL:www.upsoffice_nig@yahoo.com

Attn : Beneficiary ,

This is UPS Courier Delivery Company of Nigeria, the management of this company, wishes to inform you that, we received a parcel containing an ATM Master Card valued $10.5million USD with some vital documents attached on it, for safety delivery to your home address in your country,within' the next 48hrs as soon as we hear back from you.

This parcel was brought to us this morning by the ATM Card payment office/Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) as your inheritance approved fund to be delivered to you,without delay,so kindly reconfirm the below information, to avoid delivery your ATM Master Card to wrong hand.

Full names..............
Parcel owner address...........
Tel...............

We will register your package and send you the tracking numbers before we proceed for safety delivery of your package as soon as you reconfirm the required information’s for safety delivery.

UPS is one of the world's great success stories, the start-up that revolutionized the delivery of packages and information. In the past 30 years, we've grown up and grown into a diverse family of companies as UPS that's bigger, stronger, better than ever.

Waiting to read your e-mail.

Yours affectionately.

Mr.Williams Philip
Dispatch Manager UPS Courier Company
Tel +234-8022784275

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam