Black money scam

The black money scam, sometimes also known as the "black dollar scam" or "wash wash scam", is a scam where con artists attempt to fraudulently obtain money from a victim by convincing them that piles of banknote-sized discoloured paper are real United States dollars that has been stained or dyed. Some scammers claim the money was dyed after it was seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration during investigations, and has been stained to prevent it being circulated back into the world economy. As a form of misdirection, the scammer will often assert that the money itself is worthless, thus the victim is persuaded to pay upfront fees to purchase expensive chemicals to remove the dye, with the promise of a share in the proceeds after all the money has been thoroughly cleaned. The black money scam is a variation of what is known as advance fee fraud.