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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" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <upsglobalservices@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2011 04:41:08 +0100
Subject: congratulation

Dear Email Owner,


The Board of directors of Western Union Money Transfer in conjunction with the Nigerian Financial Group(NFG)
are pleased to announce you as one of the 3 lucky winners in the 2011 edition of ''Western Union Customer Appreciation Awards'' held annually.


The customer appreciation lottery awards of Western Union Money Transfer is a promotional
draw,where participants do not buy tickets but are luckily selected.


About One million email addresses were selected and entered into the draws and your
email address consequently emerged as one of the three(3) lucky winners as this entitles you to a Western union prepaid
MasterCard of $500,000.00 or a cash prize of $500,000.00.dollars only.


Please CLICK the western union link below to view a sample of a genuine Western Union Prepaid MasterCard:


http://www.prepaidecreditcards.com/images/westernunionmc.jpg


Your Western Union Prepaid MasterCard of $500,000.00 dollars have been deposited at the Ups Store in Abuja for delivery to any address of your choice.


YOU ARE HEREBY ADVISED TO CONTACT THE UPS PARCEL SERVICE ON(your reply to here)
for the immediate delivery of your Western Union prepaid MasterCard.


Sincerely,
Nancy Ordonez
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Western Union Financial Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 4430
Bridgeton, MO 63044


Disclaimer:The content and operations of this promo have been endorsed by Western Union.
Western Union security personnel will give you information about internet scams and what measures you can take to protect yourself.




Anti-fraud resources: