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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: Western Union Money Transfer <sssss121345@att.net>
Reply-To: wesmt2010@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 04:59:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Western Union Money Transfer



Western Union Money Transfer
Dear Sir / Madam,
For 156 years, Western Union hasa been connecting people. At Western Union , there's so much more than acmoney you're sending. Every sender and receiver is important to us. To celebrate our 156th Anniversary Switzerland , we're rewarding our customers with prizes of USD60, 000.00

Because you sent money on-line, from an agent location or received money through Western Union , you've been selected.

However, you are required to forward the following information for immediate payment of your USD60, 000.00

1.) Bank Name:
2.) Beneficiary:
3.) Account Number:
4.) Bank Address:
5.) Swift Code or Routing Number:
6.) Your Mobile Telephone Number:

You will be contacted by a Western Union in the next 24 hours as soon as you forward your required information and you will receive the USD60, 000.00 prizes immediately from us.

Save time, send money, earn rewards! Western Union is a service people trust.
ANNIVERSARY DAY

Thank you for using Western Union !
EMAIL: wesmt2010@gmail.com

-----------------------------------------------------
We endeavor to maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to guard your Information. We also endeavor to restrict Information access to our employees, agents and representatives that need to know it. Western Union will never disclose your personal or billing information to a third party.

Anti-fraud resources: