419 scam: "Western Union" <westermunion@western.com> Bonus from Western Union

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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:
- "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. )
- "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. )
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 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.
- +2348037786991 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
- +22998630366 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Western Union" <westermunion@western.com>
Reply-To: westernunion76@ymail.com
Date: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 14:27:43 -0500
Subject: Bonus from Western Union

Attn please,

This is to notify you about the latest development concerning all your
payments that are left in our custody which your were supposed to receive
earlier this year 2014. Besides, you were given a bill in order to receive
your payments of which we didn’t hear from you for sometime now.

Hence, our western union is now offering a special bonus to help all our
customers that are having their payments in our custody due to of prices
in other words; we are now requesting that you should only pay the sum of
$35 only to receive your payments.

Besides, my dear these are the opportunity for you to comply and your
funds shall be transfer to your designated address.

But remember that after (4 days) you did not make the payment then we will
retrieve your transfers, so try to avoid this problem because this year is
not like last year.

Again after (four days) we will enter a new project for the year and that
is the reason why we decided to help you before we enter into the new
project.

So we advise you send only $35 today so that we will register and update
your payments for you to start receiving your $5,000 daily as from today.
Be advice that there is no time again for we to call any person on phone
unless you will call: +22998630366

After the payment of $35 you will start receiving your money every day
$5,000 through western union until your total amount of funds $950.000 is
fully paid to you. Below is the mtcn numbers which you will use to pick up
the first $5,000 it will be update in few hours time once we receive the
fee from you.

YOUR PAYMENT OF $5,000.00 USD DETAILS

SENDER'S NAME: ===== RANDY SCOTT HARPER
TEXT QUESTION: ==== HONEST?
ANSWER: ======== TRUST
MTCN: ========== 755-778-3463
AMOUNT: $5,000

Don’t expose this numbers to anybody else. You should send the $35 through
western union money transfer with the written information below and email
me back with the payment information once you do that.

SEND THE REQUIRED FEE TO THIS INFO:

Receiver NAME:....... Ben Eze
City/Country:........Lagos Nigeria.
Question:.............Honest?
Answer:...............Trust
Amount:..............$35 dollars
MT C N : Number:.......
Sender:..............

The moment you do that, write out the payment information's written on the
payment slip, forward it back to us which will enable in confirming the
payment you sent such as,

Note; this is the only payment you are required to make in this regards
for every other fee have been waived by the Federal Ministry.

As soon as we confirm the fee today, we will immediately activate your
mtcn# and notify you then you go and pick up your $5,000 today as stated.
Please note that you need to go along with your passport ID or Drivers
license when you need to pick up the transfer today okay.

Waiting on your urgent respond.

Sincerely,
Mrs Chisomu
+22998630366
+234 8037786991
call me to pick up your first payment within 10mins after this fees of $35
Western Union payment in-change

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam