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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: Jim Burch <un@info.org>
Reply-To: onlinewumt12@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:27:02 -0800
Subject: YOU HAVE AN INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OF $7,600 USD WITH WESTERN UNION.

YOU HAVE WON $1,500,000.00USD FROM UN/WESTERN UNION HERE IS YOUR PIN NUMBER (UNO-154/4456/011)send details Name, Address And Tel No: to Franca Lee on wumtpaycenter1@aim.com or call +6010 3770 946 for inquiries.

Anti-fraud resources: