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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: james williams <james.williams127@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: james williams <western_uniontransfer2012@yahoo.es>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:17:11 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
Subject: first payment of $5,000 today

Hello,

I have contacted you because I've sent you the first payment of $5,000 today from your winning funds total amount of $1.5Million USD,Therefore you need to contact western union agent Mr.Jerry Chika, for him to give you the transfer payment information and MTCN.

Agent: Mr.Jerry Chika
Email: western_uniontransfer2012@yahoo.es
Phone: +229 97804183

Please try to contact him today for him to forward the payment information to you, Remember to Indicate the registration code of EB-2520 to him when e-mailing or calling him, Also he will be sending you $5,000.00 daily as per my discussion with him.

Do get in touch with me once you have Received the transfer.

Sincerely,
Mr. James Williams
IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR
BENIN REPUBLIC

Anti-fraud resources: