419 scam: "Western Union Payment." <brunowitstone@gmail.com> ATTENTION BENEFICIARY FROM WESTERN UNION REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT!

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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:
- "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. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "united state dollar" (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: "Western Union Payment." <brunowitstone@gmail.com>
Reply-To: westernuniontransfr@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 07:40:50 -0800
Subject: ATTENTION BENEFICIARY FROM WESTERN UNION REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT!

Western Union Money Transfer
Email: www.westernunion.com

Attention Dear Customer.

As the year is coming to an end we are happy to inform you that We the
Western Union PlC, is given out US$950,000 (Nine Hundred and Fifty
Thousand United State Dollars) for 2021 end of the year Bonanza and
also in compensation to
scam victims around the world to 50 lucky people of our customers whom
have used our service for sending money to Africa, A sia, Europe in
the past and other parts of the world which luckily your email, phone
number was among the selected beneficiary.

Three person out of the 50 beneficiary have received US$20,000.00
yesterday and today out of their total reward, Mr.Ramos
Anderson in TAHLEQUAH OKLAHOMA USA , Mr.Terry Todd in ARLINGTON TEXAS
USA and Chantal Herrmann in Australia have all received their money
from us yesterday and today and their third payment will be send
tomorrow.

This is to inform you that we have succesfully sent your first payment
of US$10,000,00 to you today with two different MTCN $5000.00 each
which you can pick up immediately to enable us send your second
payment of $10,000.00 to you tomorrow.Down here is the payment
information except Question and answer and remaining 4 digit of the
MTCN

Sender's Name:......... Judith Pencer
Control-MTCN:........... 075247....
Amount sent:........ $5000.00

Sender's Name:......... Judith Pencer
Control-MTCN:........... 610673....
Amount sent:........ $5000.00

But the directors of this payment says that you will have to
update/renew your file for the payment before we will give you the
full information to pickup the money , The update/renewal of your
file here will cost you $200 dollars only .

Please You are advice to adhere to this directive so that we can meet
up with the time scheduled for the sending your second payment
US$10,000.00 to you before 21st November.Please don't go for pickup
until I give you the question and answer and remaining 4 digit of
MTCN.

NOTE: We will keep sending your daily payment of $10,000 dollars till
your total funds worth $950,000.00 is completely received by you.

Get back to me so I can give you the name you will send the $200
to. You can call me for more details :

Sincerely Regards
Paul Bowles.
Western Union Payment Officer.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam