419 scam: "UNITED NATION Headquarters, Washington, D.C."<unitednations@earthlink.net> Re: Attention:Email Owner,

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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:
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "required 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. )
- "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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "cashier's check" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
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 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.
- +22999123970 (Benin, probably a 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.
- imfbeninrepublic@email.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "UNITED NATION Headquarters, Washington, D.C." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <officialmail2013@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 05:30:52 -0500
Subject: Re: Attention:Email Owner,

UNITED NATION Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
1775 K Street Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006

Attention:Email Owner,

We sincerely apologized for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail instead of a certified mail, post-mail,due to the urgency.

This e-mail has been issued to you in order to officially inform you that we Have completed an investigation on an International Payment in which was Issued
to you by an International Lottery Company. With the help of our Newly developed technology (International Monitoring Network System)
we Discovered that your e-mail address was automatically selected by an Online Balloting System, this has legally won you the sum of $3.5 million USD from a
Lottery Company outside the United States of America during our Investigation we discovered that your e-mail won the money from an Online Balloting System
and we have authorized this winning to be paid to you via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT WITH ALL LEGAL DOCUMENTS.

Normally, it will take up to 3 to 5 business days for an INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT by your local bank We have successfully notified this company on
Your behalf that funds are to be drawn from a registered bank within the World winded, so as to enable you cash the check instantly without any Delay,
henceforth the stated amount of $3.5million USD has been deposited With International Monetary Fund(IMF) Benin Republic, therefore contact Mr.Douglas Zuma
We have completed this investigation and you are hereby approved to receive The winning prize as we have verified the entire transaction to be Safe and 100%
risk free, due to the fact that the funds have been deposited with IMF You will be required to settle the following bills directly to the Lottery Agent
in-charge of this transaction that is located in COTONOU, BENIN REPUBLIC According to our discoveries, you were required to pay for the Following,

(1) IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE DEPOSIT FEE.
(2) SHIPPING FEE, FOR YOUR CASHIER'S CHECK TO YOUR HOME ADDRESS )

The total amount for everything is $175 we have tried our possible best to Indicate that this $175 should be deducted from your winning prize but we Found
out that the funds have already been deposited to the IMF and cannot be Accessed by anyone apart from you the winner, therefore you will be required To pay the required fee to the Agent in-charge of this transaction.

In order to proceed with this transaction, you will be required to contact The agent in-charge ( Mr.Douglas Zuma ) via e-mail Kindly look below to find

Appropriate contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: Mr.Douglas Zuma

E-MAIL : ( imfbeninrepublic@email.com )

Direct Phone : +229 991 23970

You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP CODE:
DIRECT CONTACT
OCCUPATION:

You will also be required to request Western Union or Money Gram details on How to send the required $175 in order to immediately ship your prize of

$3.5million USD via INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED BANK DRAFT from IMF, also Include the following transaction code in order for him to immediately Identify this

transaction: EA2948-910.

This letter will serve as proof that united nation official is Authorizing you to pay the required $175 ONLY to Mr.Rafael Morgan via Information in which he

shall send to you,

Morris Milne.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam