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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<info@usa.org>
Reply-To: wst.union@usa.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2018 00:55:20 +0100
Subject: DEAR BENEFICIARY

WELCOME TO WESTERN UNION USA.
DEAR BENEFICIARY
I HAVE CONTACTED YOU WITH THIS MAIL SEVERALLY BUT UNTIL NOW I NEVER HEAR FROM YOU, I DON’T THINK I WILL CONTINUE REMINDING YOU ABOUT THIS FUND BECAUSE I CAN SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED OVER THE ($25,000,000,00)USD. I HAVE DONE MY BEST IN CONTACTING YOU.
I AM DR. PAUL ROBINSON THE NEW DIRECTOR WESTERN UNION DEPARTMENT USA, AS I WAS GOING THROUGH ALL THE FILES AND DOCUMENTS IN MY OFFICE I REALIZED THE SUM OF ($25, 000, 000, 00) USD WON BY THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS OF YOURS IS STILL IN WESTERN NUION’S CUSTODY WHICH IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN OUR CUSTODY BY NOW.
THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS HAS EMERGED THE WINNER OF THE ANNUAL ELECTRONIC E-MAIL LOTTERY DRAW ORGANIZED BY WESTERN UNION TO SHOW GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION TO OUR NUMEROUS CUSTOMAS ALL OVER THE WORLD FOR THEIR PATRONAGE.
BUT UP TO THIS MOMENT THE FUND IS STILL IN WESTERN UNION CUSTODY AND IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE TRANSFERRED TO YOU BEFORE NOW BUT WE DIDN’T HEAR FROM YOU SINCE THEN.
FOR SECURITY PURPOSES YOU ARE ADVISED TO RESEND YOUR INFORMATION TO THE DIRECTOR DR. PAUL ROBINSON THROUGH ( wst.union@usa.com)
(1) NAME________
(2) TEL._________
(3) COUNTRY____
(4) AGE_______
(6) CITY______
(7) OCCUPATION
YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT DIRECTOR DR.PAUL ROBINSON
THROUGH (wst.union@usa.com ) TO ENABLE US PROCEED TO TRANSFER IMMEDIATELY

REGARDS
DR. PAUL ROBINSON
DIRECTOR WESTERN UNION USA.

Anti-fraud resources: