419 scam: "Mrs. Annette Greene" <ssk@wylie.co.kr> Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division

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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. )
- "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. )
- "fund beneficiary" (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)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
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.
- eddiebalmanfile55@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. Annette Greene" <ssk@wylie.co.kr>
Reply-To: eddiebalmanfile@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 09 Apr 2022 08:00:25 -0700
Subject: Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division

Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
FBI Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J.Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW Washington, D.C.

Attention Fund Beneficiary!!!

This e-mail has been issued to you in order to officially inform
youthat we have completed an investigation on an International Payment
in which was issued to you by an International Lottery Company. With
the help of our newly developed technology (International Monitoring
Network System, we discovered that your e- mail address was
automatically selected by an Online Balloting System, this has legally
won you the sum of $21.5million USD from a Lottery Company outside the
United States of America. During our investigation, we discovered that
your e- mail won the money from an Online Balloting System and we have
authorized this winning to be paid to you via ATM CARD.

We have successfully notified this company on your behalf that funds
are to be drawn from a registered bank within the world
winded,henceforth the stated amount of $21.5million USD has been
deposited
with IMF. We have completed this investigation and you are hereby
approved to receive the winning prize as we have verified the entire
transaction to be Safe and 100% risk free, due to the fact that the
funds have been deposited with IMF you will be required to settle the
following bills directly to the Lottery Agent in- charge of this
transaction whom is located in USA. According to our discoveries, you
were required to pay for the following,

(1) Deposit Fees (IMF INTERNATIONAL CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE)
(2) Shipping Fees ( This is the charge for shipping the ATM VISA CARD
to your home address)

The total amount for everything is $400.00 We have tried our possible
best to indicate that this $400.00 should be deducted from your
winning prize but we found out that the funds have already been
deposited to IMF and cannot be accessed by anyone apart from you the
winner, therefore you will be required to pay the required fee's to
the Agent in-charge of this transaction In order to proceed with this
transaction, you will be required to contact the agent in-charge
(Eddie Ballman) via e-mail. Kindly look below to find appropriate
contact information:

CONTACT AGENT NAME: Eddie Ballman
E-mail address: ( eddiebalmanfile55@gmail.com )
You will be required to e-mail him with the following information:

1. Name in full.
2. Address.
3. Nationality.
4. Age.
5. Occupation.
6. Phone No.
7. Present Country.
8. Fax [optional].
9. Email address.
10. Sex.
****************************

You will also be required to request Walmart details on how to send
the required $400.00 in order to immediately ship your prize of
$21.5Million USD via ATM CARD from IMF, also include the following
transaction code in order for him to immediately identify this
transaction: EA2948-910. This letter will serve as proof that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation is authorizing you to pay the required
$400.00 ONLY to Eddie Ballman

via information, in, which he shall send to you,
Yours in Service,
Mrs. Annette Greene,
Investigation Officer.
III Director Office of Public Affair

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam