419 scam: "Pastor Wilfred James" <pwilfredjames@yahoo.com> Greetings From Pastor Wilfred James

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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "security keeping fee" (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. )
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "million dollars" (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)
- ",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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- "skylinebj-delivery@live.fr" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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.
- +22998246485 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Pastor Wilfred James" <pwilfredjames@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: pwilfredjames@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 23:48:48 +0100
Subject: Greetings From Pastor Wilfred James

Dear Friend In The Lord

I greet you and your Family today with the name of the lord. I have been waiting to hear from you over two months now to contact me for your Confirm-able Bank Draft Check of, One Million, Five Hundred Thousand United State of American Dollars ($1,500,000.00 Million Dollars), but did not hear from you. Then I went and deposited your Bank Draft with Skyline Delivery Company for safe keeping before I traveled out of the country for a short Course and will not be coming back till end of next Month.

What you have to do now is to contact Skyline Delivery Company as soon as possible to know when they will deliver your Bank Draft to you because of the expiring date.

For your information, i have paid for the delivering Charges; the only money you will pay to the Delivery Company to deliver your Bank Draft Check to your postal Address is ($115 Dollars) only being their Security Keeping Fee.

Again, Do not be deceive by anybody to pay any other money except $115 Dollars, I would have pay the security keeping fee but the Delivery Company said no because they don't know when you will contact them and in case of demurrage. So, you have to contact Delivery Company now for the delivery of your Bank Draft Check with their contact address below

Contact Person: Dr. Fred Folahan
E-mail Address: ( skylinebj-delivery@live.fr )
Phone Number: +229-98246485
Registration No: wwdsc/xxx/100

Finally, make sure you also send them your Postal address and direct telephone number to avoid any mistake on the Delivery and Let me repeat again, try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid any further delay and remember to pay them their Security Keeping fee of $115 USD for their immediate action. You should also let me know through email as soon as you receive your Bank Draft Check.

Note: Skyline Delivery Company does not know the contents of the parcel. I registered it in the company as my photograph (pix) sending to a friend overseas. They do not know that it contains a Bank Draft of such a huge amount of money, this is to avoid them tempering with the package. Do not let them know the contents of the parcel. I will be waiting to hear the good news from you once you receive the package.

Remain Blessed
Pastor Wilfred James

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam