419 scam: Winston McCalla <vin5002001@yahoo.com> Sad News.............I Need Your Help

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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. )
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: Winston McCalla <vin5002001@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Winston McCalla <vin50002001@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 09:37:17 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Sad News.............I Need Your Help

I Hope you get this on time. I'm very sorry to bother you with my troubles but I'm in some terrible situation right now and need your urgent help, I know I didn't mention anything about it to you but we are in trouble right now.

I'm stranded in Kiev,Ukraine and need your help getting back home. I made a trip down here this past weekend but unfortunately for me, I was robbed at gunpoint at a taxi park. Everything I had on me including my phone, credit cards were all stolen, It was a terrible experience to go through but looking on the bright side, I wasn't seriously hurt or injured and I'm still alive which is the most important thing. The good thing is that I still have my passport but I just don't have enough money to sort my hotel bills and travel back home.
Unfortunately for me, I can't have access to funds without my credit card since the robbers have my card now, I've made contact with my bank but it would take at least a week to get a new one to me. Please I would really appreciate if you could help me out here. I was wondering if you could help me with a quick Loan and I promise to refund you as I get back in two days time. All I really need is about $2,780.00 but if the whole amount can't be covered, I would gladly appreciate any amount you can put in to help. Western union is the best way to get the funds to me. Please kindly let me know if this is possible so that I can provide my wiring details needed to make the transfer. Looking forward to hearing from you, I will check my email every 30 minutes for your reply because it's the only way i can reach you.

Thank you
Winston

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam