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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 ©2017" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nscemg@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 04:07:28 -0700
Subject: YOUR FUNDS ARE READY PICKUP

This is a service email from Western Union.
 

Western Union Money Transfer.

Dear Customer,

The Western Union Money Transfer this morning received a total sum of $3,500,000 USD (Three million,five hundred thousand dollars only) directed in cash credited to our account ending in: WUMTxxxxxxxxxxxx0049 by the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund in conjuction with World Bank Group for us to screen and make a final payment to you the owner of this email address which have been authorized and can only be paid through Western Union corporate headquarters here in the States. They contacted us regarding your witheld compensation fund a couple of hours ago, which made us clearly that you have been battling for this said fund for years.Be informed that all matters relating to your transfer has been fully regularized as a final approval has been issued out in your favour and we therefore commence your transfer process of your fund which have been effected.

Click on the green icon to verify your email address
Verify e-mail address

Once information is received please allow up to 7 days for us to contact you for your transfer method/information.Also note that we do not ask for any fee whatsoever.Please report immediately if any of our staffs demand for any fee.

NOTE: we cannot respond to any wrong information received in our database because,we will verify your account with your account provider to make sure you are the rightful account owner before we make any transfer to you.

RESPONSE SHOULD BE MADE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE IT WILL BE TOO LATE

Sincerely,

Western Union Team

 

Please read the Western Union Privacy Policy to learn more about our privacy practices. You will always have the ability to opt-out at any time in the future. Note: Your personal information provided for the services requested are not subject to your choice and may be shared to fulfill our service obligations or as required or permitted by law.

Western Union Financial Service, Inc. PO Box 4430 Bridgeton, MO 63044

©2017 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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