419 scam: EFCC <cecira@cedia.org.ec> PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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. )
- "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. )
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "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.
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 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.
- wuunionnig@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)

Fraud email example:

From: EFCC <cecira@cedia.org.ec>
Reply-To: EFCC <wuunionnig@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 06:14:45 -0500 (ECT)
Subject: PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
15A Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Nigeria
http://www.efccnigeria.org

Attention Victim,
The Federal Government of Nigeria through provisions in Section 419 of the Criminal Code came up with punitive measures to deter and punish offenders.The Advance Fee Fraud section deal mainly with cases of advance fee fraud(commonly called 419) such as obtaining by false pretense through different fraudulent schemes e.g. contract scam, credit card scam, inheritance scam, job scam, lottery scam, â€œwash washâ€ scam (money washing scam), marriage scam. Immigration scam, counterfeiting and religious scam. It also investigates cyber crime cases.

After proper investigations at Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram office to know if you have truly sent money to fraudsters in Nigeria through Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram, your name was found in Western Union Money Transfer database amongst those that have sent money through Western Union Money Transfer to Nigeria and this proves you right that you have truly been swindled by those unscrupulous persons by sending money to them through Western Union Money Transfer in the course of getting one fund or the other that is not real, right now we are working hand in hand with Western Union to track every fraudsters down, do not respond to their e-mails, letters and phone calls any longer, they are scams and you should be very careful to avoid being a victim to fraudsters any longer.

In this regard and in line with the meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland which mandated the Federal Republic of Nigeria through the Central Bank to compensate victims of scams defrauded by fraudsters in Nigeria, a sum of forty thousand dollars ($40,000) has been deposited on your behalf at the Western Union office as compensation.

We have deposited your fund at Western Union Money Transfer agent location EMS Post office Lagos, Nigeria. You are to contact the western union office with your details as directed, your fund has already been insured with your details to avoid misappropriation.

Contact the Western Union agent office through the email address stated below;
wuunionnig@aol.com

Yours sincerely,
Ibrahim Lamorde,
Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

**************************************************************************************************
Please note that some fraudsters are claiming to be the Executive Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde or staff of The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have recently been sending phony e-mails/letters and also calling unsuspecting persons, with intent to defraud them. It is important to note that these fraudsters are criminals engaged in advance fee fraud. People throughout the world are falling victim to scams of various kinds. But remember - if it sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam. In view of these, we unreservedly advice you to dissociate yourself from all correspondence and transactions entered into based on evidently fraudulent and fictitious claims.
**************************************************************************************************

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam