419 scam: "Mrs. Margaret Blaire." <"WWW."@lime.ocn.ne.jp> Dear Customer,

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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. )
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "hundred thousand us 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)
- "cheques " (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 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.
- +2348084010657 (Nigeria, 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.
- altacourier3338@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Margaret Blaire." <"WWW."@lime.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mrs. Margaret Blaire." <altacourier3338@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2017 21:08:00 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Dear Customer,

Dear Customer,

We have been waiting for you to contact us for your Package that is been
registered with us for shipping to your residential location. We had thought
that your sender gave you our contact details. It may interest you to know that
a letter is also added to your package.

However, we cannot quote its content to you via email for privacy reasons. We
understand that the content of your package itself is a Bank Draft worth of
$1.500.000 (One Million five Hundred Thousand US Dollars). As you know, Alta
does not ship money in CASH or in CHEQUES but BANK DRAFTS are shippable. The
package is registered with us for mailing by your colleague as claimed, and
your colleague explained that he is here in West Africa for a three (3) month
Survey Project as he works with a construction firm in West Africa. We are
sending you this email because your package is been registered on a Special
Order.

What you have to do, is to contact our Delivery Department for immediate
dispatch of your package to your residential address. Note that as soon as our
Delivery Team confirms your information, it will take three (3) working days
(72Hrs) for your package to arrive its designated destination. For your
information, the VAT & Shipping charges as well as Insurance fees have been
paid by your colleague before your package was registered. Note that the
payment that is made on the Insurance, Premium & Clearance Certificates, are to
certify that the Bank Draft is not a Drug Affiliated Fund (DAF) neither is it
funds to sponsor Terrorism in your country.

This will help you avoid any form of query from the Monetary Authority of your
country. However, you will have to pay a sum of $85 USD to the Alta Delivery
Department being full payment for the Security Keeping Fee of the ALTA Courie Company
as stated in our privacy terms & condition page.

Also be informed that your colleague wished to pay for the Security Keeping
charges, but we do not accept such payments considering the fact that all items
& packages that is registered with us have a time limitation and we cannot
accept payment without knowing when you will be picking up the package or even
respond to us. So we cannot take the risk to have accepted such a payment
incase of any possible demurrage. Kindly note that your colleague did not leave
us with any further information. We hope that you respond to us as soon as
possible because if you fail to respond until the expiry date of the foremost
package, we may refer the package to the British Commission for Welfare as the
package do not have a return address. Kindly contact the delivery department
(Alta Delivery Post) with the details given below:

ALTA COUERIE COMPANY
Contact Person:Mr George Clark.
Email:altacourier3338@yahoo.com
Tel: +2348084010657

Kindly complete the below information and send it to the email address given
above. This is mandatory to reconfirm your Postal address and telephone
numbers.

FULL NAMES:
TELEPHONE:
POSTAL ADDRESS:
CITY:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:

As soon as your details are received, our delivery team will give you the
necessary payment procedure so that you can effect the payment for the Security
Keeping Fees. As soon as they confirm your payment of $85 USD, they shall
immediately dispatch your package to the designated address. It usually takes
72 Hours being an express delivery service. Note that we were not instructed to
email you, but due to the high priority of your package we had to inform you as
your sender did not leave us with his phone number because he stated that he
just arrived England and he was not on
phone yet.

We indeed personally sealed your Bank Draft and we found your email contact in
the attached letter as the recipient of the foremost package. Ensure to contact
the delivery department with the email address and ensure to fill the above
form as well to enable successful reconfirmation.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Margaret Blaire.
ALTA Online Management Team.
All rights reserved.?1995-20017 ALTA COUERIE COMPANY.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam