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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 Money Transfer " <info@wu.co.uk>
Reply-To: customerfirst10@pcsalem.com
Date: Thu, 01 May 2014 10:09:52 -0700
Subject: Western Union Office

You have been awarded with the sum of US$5,000,000.00 by
Western Union as one of our customer who uses western union in 2013,
Please contact Mr. Raj Agrawal via e-mail below for your fund remittance.

Phone#: 234 817 575 5603
Website: www.westernunion.com
Direct E-Mail: customerfirst10@pcsalem.com

Anti-fraud resources: