419 scam: "Western Union" <johnf.campbell248@yahoo.co.uk> Payment

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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:
- "activation 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. )
- "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. )
- "money transfer control number" (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: "Western Union" <johnf.campbell248@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: westernunionoutlet@foxmail.com
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 16:35:55 +0300
Subject: Payment

I write to inform you that we have already sent you $10,000 USD
through our office as we have been given the mandate from our
regional head office in United Kingdom (UK) to transfer your full
payment of $400,000 US Dollars via western union from
Mr. Neil Trotter who recently worn a Euromillion lottery and
decided to give away 60% of the lottery prize as donation to
individuals, charity organization, churches and orphanage homes.
According to him, an online random selection was made and you
were one of the lucky individuals selected to partake in the
donation. He provided this weblink to enable you confirm the
lottery and also the donation. Please access the link below

( http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-26627075 )

The money is available for pick up from any of our offices
around you in your city but with restriction because it has been
deactivated from our head office for security reason because of
internet hackers because the transfer has stayed too long on air
as we have been trying to reach you on the phone for some days now
without success. Therefore you can not pick up the money for now due
to the restriction from our head office until the money transfer
control number(MTCN) is activated. Hence the MTCN has to be reactivated
to enable you start receiving your money in any western union office
in your area the reactivation of the MTCN will cost you a token of $153
once this is paid, our head office will activate the MTCN which is
valued $400,000 USD to be received on daily installment of $10,000USD

With due respect, please get back to me if you are the rightful owner of
the email address this notification is sent to by confirming the below
detail, but if you are not the rightful owner of the email address, please
ignore or delete this message

Full Name:
Current Personal Phone Number:
Country Of Residence:
Ready To Pay The Activation Fee? Indicate Yes or No:

Best Regards
Mr.Tiffany Santos.
Transfer Manager
Western Union Money Transfer
New Delhi. India
Tel:+919-582-921-780

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam