419 scam: "Helen"<mrshelennn@gmail.com> GAO OFFICE

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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.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "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. )
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 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.
- wdcdepartment@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Helen" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 09:09:51 -0800
Subject: GAO OFFICE

USA GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RE PAYMENT
Our Ref: USG /GAO/STB
Your ref:

Hello Dear,

The United State Government through provisions in Section 419 of the Criminal
Code came up with punitive measures to deter and punish offenders.The Advance
Fee Fraud section deal mainly with cases of advance fee fraud(commonly called
419) such as obtaining by false pretense through different fraudulent schemes
e.g.contract scam, credit card scam,inheritance scam, job scam, loan
scam,lottery scam, “wash wash” scam (money washing scam), marriage scam know as
dating scam.Immigration scam, Check and bank draft counterfeiting and religious
scam. It also investigates cyber crime cases.This is to officially announce to
you that some scam Syndicates were apprehended few days ago and after several
interrogations and tortures your details were among those mentioned by some of
the scam Syndicates as one of the victims of their operations. After proper
investigations and research at Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram
office to know if you have truly sent money to the scam Syndicates through
Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram, your name was found in Western Union
Money Transfer database amongst those that have sent money through Western
Union Money Transfer to them in there country and this proves that you have
truly been
swindled by those unscrupulous persons by sending money to them in the course
of getting one fund or the other that is not real, right now we are working
hand in
hand with Western Union,Interpol and the Efcc Being the only crime agent in
Europe and West Africa to track every fraudsters down, do not respond to their
e-mails,letters and phone calls any longer they are scammers and you should be
very careful to avoid being a victim to fraudsters any longer because they have
nothing to offer you but to rip-off what you have worked hard to earn by
introducing you to unreal endless transaction requesting for outrageous fees
from you.

In this regard a meeting was held between the Usa Government Accountability
Office and as a consequence of our investigations it was agreed that the sum of
Fifty Thousand US Dollars (US$50,000)should be transferred to you out of
the funds that International Monetary Fund has set aside as a compensation to
everyone who have by one way or the other sent money to fraudsters.***Please
note that we will NO LONGER be liable for any loss, cost or expense, whatsoever,
suffered or incurred by you in connection with the fraudsters. Be warned!

Yours sincerely,
Best Regards
Mrs Helen Bal.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
http://www.gao.gov/
wdcdepartment@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam