419 scam: "MR. TONY WILLIAMS"<care@designhi.net> Your First Installation Payment Of $2,500.00 (MTCN) Is Available To Pick!

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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
- "million united states 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)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
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.
- +2348123477180
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.
- westerrnunionmt0101@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. TONY WILLIAMS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wu.moneytrransferunit017@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 23:28:46 +0100
Subject: Your First Installation Payment Of $2,500.00 (MTCN) Is Available To Pick!

Attention: My Dear Friend,

How are you, hope you are fine? This message is coming to you from WESTERN UNION BOARD OF DIRECTORS, it has come to our notice that you have been unable to receive your inheritance and compensation fund worth of $1,500.000.00 (One Million Five Thousand Dollars) which you tried to receive all to be avail because of bad official in charge that's why you haven't received the fund till date and we have decided to take a positive step to stop those criminals from destroying the image of this country that's why the western union board of director has decided to release the fund to you through our service western union money transfer worldwide because we are reliable, easiest and fastest miss for you to receive your overdue payment in short period of time as long as you complied with all the necessary requirement.

We program that you will be receiving the sum of $2,500.00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars) daily unit you withdraw the total sum of $1.5million united states dollars completely.

But note that before we proceed on this transaction, you required to re-confirmed this information below in order to enable us renew and update your payment file after that we will proceed to the next step of action, so be advised to provide your personal information as stated below.

Your Name:.....................
Your Address:....................
Your Occupation:........................
Your Telephone & Mobile Number:...............
A Copy of Your ID Card Or Passport:..............

In order to PROOF the legitimacy of this transaction, we decided to issue your first installation payment of $2,500.00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars) as an evidence to show that this transaction is real, genuine and 100% percent risk free, but you can not pick up the payment because it's (ON-HOLD) and it needs to be RE-ACTIVATED before you can be able to pick up the first installation payment that was already issued in your name today and the activation fee will only cost you the sum of $155.00 (One Hundred And Fifty-five Dollars)

HERE IS YOUR FIRST INSTALLATION PAYMENT OF $2,500.00 (TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS) DETAILS BELOW.

1) Sender Name: LINDA WILFRED
2) Text Question:A1
3) Text Answer: A2
4) Country: ABUJA - NIGERIA
5) MTCN Number: 827-150-(****)

Kindly contact us with this information below.
Contact Person: Mr. Lawrence Parker.
Contact E-mail (westerrnunionmt0101@gmail.com)
Telephone Number: +23481-2347-7180

We assure you that as soon as you comply with us and provide all this requirement, we will re-activate and start releasing your daily confirmation number which is (MTCN) of $2,500.00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars) to you, which you will use to withdraw your payment as we programmed without any further delay.

Best Regards,
Mr. Tony Williams.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam