419 scam: "Mr.Mike Ubah" <MrMike@blue.ocn.ne.jp> Attn Dear Friend Good Day.

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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
- "i am using this medium to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "i will advice you " (this email uses bad English)
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: "Mr.Mike Ubah" <MrMike@blue.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mr.Mike Ubah" <westernu499@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2015 19:52:05 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Attn Dear Friend Good Day.

Attn Dear Friend Good Day.

How are you today together with your family, I hope that everything is fine, I trust this mail meets you in a perfect condition. You may not understand why this mail came to you now. But if you do not remember me, you might have received an email from me last year regarding a Bank to Bank wire transfer proposal which we never concluded. I am using this medium to inform you that the Bank to Bank wire transfer business has been concluded with another person who financed it to a logical conclusion. I thank you for you're great effort to our unfinished transfer of funds into your account due to one reason or the other best known to you.

But I want to inform you that I have successfully transferred the fund out of the bank to my new partner's account in Qatar that was capable of assisting me in this great venture. Due to your effort, sincerity, courage and trustworthiness you showed during the course of the transaction I want to compensate you and show my gratitude to you with the sum of $1,700.000 USD and I left the Fund in care of my work partner who works as a manager at Western Union Office in Republic of Benin before I made my trip down here in Western Asia. I told him to be send the funds to you whenever you contact him with your full details.Western Union Agent Mr.Mike Ubah.. contact him now for your payment, and I will advice you to ask the Western Union management what you need to do before they can allow you to receive their Western Union transfer.

Contact person: Mr.Mike Ubah.

This is the sender's full name for the first transfer they made to you (DEBORAH ALFREDO),Ask the Western Union management to give you the MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number), Question and Answer code, to pick up transfer. from any outlet Western Union store in your city, I instructed them to keep sending you $3500 twice daily till the payment of $1,700.000 USD is completed. Again re-confirm to the Western Union management your Full Name, Telephone number and Address so that they will be sure of whom they are dealing with. For your information they can only transfer 2 parts of payments to you everyday which is $7,000. United States Dollars.

CONTACT HIM WITH YOUR FULL INFORMATION.

Full Name:--------
State:----------
City:-----------
Zip Code-------
Full Address:-------
Contact Phone:------

Try to indicate this code when contacting Western Union Management to avoid any mistake. Here is the code. (AQHoo4xx7KG) also use it as your subject. Remember without this Code they can't release any payment to you so ensure that you contact them with the Code and try to comply with their instruction. I am currently in Qatar to set up a project.Please don't forget to ask the Western Union Management what you need to do i am sure they will require a little fee from you to enable them validate your transfer file. remain bless my regards to your family.

Yours Sincerely
MR.Andy Rodriguez
Former MD Western Union Office Benin Republic.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam