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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: westernunion <"WWW."@cosmos.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: westernunion <westernunion7b89@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2017 21:46:35 +0900 (JST)
Subject: ATTENTION,

ATTENTION,

THIS MESSAGE IS FROM THE WESTERN UNION, TO THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL,
HOW ARE YOU TODAY, I WRITE TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE ALREADY SENT YOU
USD5000.00 DOLLARS THROUGH WESTERN UNION AS WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE
MANDATE TO TRANSFER YOUR FULL COMPENSATION PAYMENT TOTAL SUM OF US
$500 000.00,VIA WESTERN UNION AS INSTRUCTED BY OUR GOVERNMENT.

I WAS CALLING YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER TO GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION
THROUGH PHONE BUT YOU DID NOT PICK UP MY CALLS THROUGH OUT THAT
YESTERDAY EVEN THIS MORNING. NOW I DECIDED TO EMAIL YOU THE MTCN AND
SENDER'S NAME SO THAT YOU WILL PICK UP THIS USD5000.00 TO ENABLE US
SEND ANOTHER PAYMENT TODAY AS YOU KNOW WE WILL BE SENDING YOU ONLY USD
5000.00 PER DAILY.

PLEASE RUN TO WESTERN UNION TO PICK UP THE USD5000.00 AND CALL ME BACK
TO SEND YOU ANOTHER PAYMENT TODAY MANAGER MR. FRANK BEN TELEPHONE
NUMBER TEL# +229-98654322EMAIL: ( westernunion7b89@gmail.com ) CALL OR EMAIL
ME

ONCE YOU PICKED UP THIS USD5000.00. HERE IS THE WESTERN UNION
INFORMATION TO PICK UP THE MONEY:

MTCN # 1483996879
SENDER'S NAME:::::: RICHARD OFOR
AMOUNT'S $5,000.00
TEST QUESTION:::::WHAT COLOUR
TEST ANSWER::::::GREEN

I AM WAITING FOR YOUR CALL ONCE YOU PICK UP THE MONEY.

MEANWHILE YOU ARE REQUIRE TO SEND US THE TRANSFERRING FEE WHICH IS $55
US FOR THE WHOLE TRANSFER CHARGES, THAT WE HAVE ALREADY REMITTED TO
YOUR NAME, SO WITHOUT THE TRANSFER FEE YOU CAN NOT PICK THE MONEY FOR
IT'S ON HOLD AND THE MTCN CANNOT BE RELEASED TO YOU UNTIL YOU SEND THE
TRANSFER FEE, THAT IS AN INSTRUCTION FROM THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF
FINANCE (FMF).PLEASE EMAIL ME YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER BECAUSE I
NEED TO BE CALLING YOU ONCE WE SEND ANY PAYMENT FOR THESE
INFORMATION'S.

HERE IS THE INFORMATION THAT YOU WILL USE TO SEND THE TRANSFER CHARGE
SO THAT YOUR FIRST PAYMENT WILL BE RELEASE TO YOU FOR ANOTHER TO BE
SENT

RECEIVER NAME::::::::::::::::::::::::MIKE OBI
COUNTRY:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::REPUBLIC OF BENIN
CITY ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::COTONUO
TEXT QUESTION :::::::::::::::YES
ANSWER ::::::::::::::::::::::::TRUST
MTCN::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SENDER'S NAME:

HERE IS THE E-MAIL ADDRESS YOU CAN CONTACT US AS SOON AS YOU MADE THE
PAYMENT OF US$55:00: FOR THE TRANSFER OF YOUR FIRST PAYMENT

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU.
DIRECTOR; MR. MARK hanry
TEL : +229-98654322
E-MAIL ( westernunion7b89@gmail.com )
WESTERN UNION HEADQUARTERS BENIN.

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