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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: WESTERN UNION DEPARTMENT HEAD OFFICE <sergio.de.tommasis@alice.it>
Reply-To: wuoffice734@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2017 08:21:29 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: DEAR COSTUMER


Send Money Worldwide
Send Money Worldwide
MoneyGram is a convenient way to send money fast. It's easy,
reliable and you have a choice of great options.WELCOME TO WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS: You’re Transaction ReceiptDEAR COSTUMERTHIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF $5,000 HAVE BEEN SENT TO YOU VIA WESTERN UNION OFFICE, AND YOU WILL BE RECEIVING $5,000 DAILY TILL YOUR TOTAL FUNDS IS EXHAUSTED.YOU ARE TO CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF $5,000, IT IS AVAILABLE TO PICK UP BY YOU, CLICK HERE http://ubagpint-001-site1.dtempurl.com/w/u/n/i/o/n/t/r/a/n/s/f/e/r/ AND LOGIN YOUR VALID EMAIL AND PASSWORD TO VIEW YOUR FIRST PAYMENT...GET BACK TO OUR OFFICE ONCE YOU RECEIVE YOUR FIRST PAYMENT TO ENABLE US PREPARE YOUR SECOND PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY.YOUR URGENT RESPONDS IS NEEDED ONCE YOU RECEIVE YOUR FIRST PAYMENT...DON'T REVIEW THIS MAIL TO ANYBODY FOR SECURITY REASON OTHERWISE THEY WILL PICK YOUR MONEY BEFORE YOU YOURS IN SERVICEMr.Andrew M.WESTERN UNION MANAGERBENIN REPUBLIC

Anti-fraud resources: