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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <westernunionpayment06@kimo.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2015 14:43:35 -0700
Subject: CONTACT WESTERN UNION FOR YOUR FUND

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI
WASHINGTON D.C ROOM,7367
J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535,

RE: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET

ATTENTION: CUSTOMER

PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION HAS COMPLETED AN INVESTIGATION ON THE MONEY TRANSFER ISSUE IN WHICH YOU PRESENTLY HAVE WITH YOUR PRESENT TRANSACTION AGENTS.YOUR TRANSACTION HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID OUT TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OF NIGERIA WHOM HAVE PRESENTLY PLACED AN HOLD ON YOUR TRANSACTION DUE TO FAILURE TO PAY THE NIGERIA GOVERNMENT TAX CLEARANCE FOR YOUR FUNDS.

ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, THE REAL AMOUNT OF YOUR MONEY IS $800,000 US DOLLARS AND IT HAS BEEN DISPATCHED TO THE NIGERIA WESTERN UNION HEAD OFFICE FOREIGN OPERATIONS MANAGER "MR.JIM BALOGUN" WHOM IS PRESENTLY IN-CHARGE OF YOUR TRANSACTION. IT HAS BEEN DESIGNATED THAT THE SUM OF $8,000 BE PAID TO YOU DAILY USING WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER, THEREFORE YOUR FUNDS IS PRESENTLY WITH WESTERN UNION AND HAS BEEN PLACED ON HOLD.

PRESENTLY, THE FUNDS ARE IN THE WESTERN UNION SYSTEM AND ONCE YOU HAVE PAID THE NIGERIA TAX CLEARANCE IN THE AMOUNT OF $85, YOUR FUNDS WILL NOT BE RELEASED.YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY THE SUM OF $85 TO THE FOREIGN OPERATIONS MANAGER WHOM SHALL DEPOSIT TO THE NIGERIA TAX SYSTEM DIRECTLY AND ONCE THIS HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THE MONEY WILL THEN BE CHANGED INTO YOUR NAME AND RELEASED FOR PAY-OUT IMMEDIATELY.

IN ORDER TO PROVE THAT YOUR FUNDS ARE IN THE WESTERN UNION SYSTEM, I WOULD REQUIRE THAT YOU GO TO THEIR WEBSITE VIA "HTTP://WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM" AND THEN CLICK ON THE "CHECK TRANSFER" OR "TRANSFER STATUS", YOU WILL THEN BE REQUIRED TO ENTER THE MTCN CONTROL NUMBER AS WELL AS THE SENDER'S NAME. KINDLY ENTER THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BELOW:

SENDER'S FIRST NAME: JOHN
SENDER'S LAST NAME: FRANK
MTCN------007-20-14-064
AMOUNT:--- $8,000 USD

YOU CANNOT PICK UP THE FUNDS AS OF YET BECAUSE THE PAYMENT WAS NOT SENT TO YOUR NAME BUT AN ANONYMOUS NAME, ONCE YOU HAVE PAID THE REQUIRED $85 FOR THE NIGERIA TAX CLEARANCE, THE MONEY WILL BE RELEASED AFTER 12 HOURS AND SHALL BE MADE PAYABLE TO YOU.PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS THE ONLY REQUIRED FEE NEEDED TO COMPLETE YOUR TRANSACTION, THEREFORE YOU ARE REQUIRED TO IMMEDIATELY PROCEED TO A WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OUTLET AND THEN REQUEST TO SEND $85 TO THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BELOW:

RECEIVER;--------OKECHUKWU CHUKWUKA
COUNTRY.---------NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION:---WHAT FOR?
ANSWER:----------RELEASE
AMOUNT;----------$85

ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE WESTERN UNION TRANSACTION, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO CALL OR SEND MR.JIM AN E-MAIL; WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BELOW:

SENDER'S FIRST NAME:
SENDER'S LAST NAME:
10 DIGIT MTCN CONTROL NUMBER GIVEN ON RECEIPT:
SENDER'S PHONE NUMBER:

PLEASE SEND THE ABOVE REQUESTED INFORMATION TO THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BELOW:

CONTACT NAME: MR.JIM BALOGUN
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER:+234 7068 583 413
E-MAIL:westernunionpayment06@kimo.com

IF YOU ARE ABLE TO SEND THE $85 IMMEDIATELY, THE RECEIVER'S NAME ON THE MONEY TRANSFER WILL BE CHANGED INTO YOUR NAME AND IMMEDIATELY BE ORDERED FOR RELEASE IN ONLY 12 HOURS. THEREFORE, KINDLY PROCEED TOWARDS COMPLETING YOUR TRANSACTION AND SEND MR.JIM BALOGUN WITH REQUIRED INFORMATION.

THANKS
JAMES B. COMEY
WASHINGTON D.C ROOM,7367
J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,
NW WASHINGTON, DC 20535
FOREIGN TRANSFER INVESTIGATIONS IN CHARGE.

Anti-fraud resources: