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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: customers care online <webmailinternetcentre@in.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 03:23:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Web mail Internet Customer, Warring Notification



Dear Web mail Internet Customer,
 
As part of our continuous effort in providing a higher level of service, we are notifying every web mail account owners about the congestion's due to the anonymous registration of accounts. To solve this problem, we are shutting down some unused accounts within 24 hours.
 
To avoid shutting down your account, verify and inform us if you still want to use the account by completing the form below with the required information.
 
* User name:
* Password:
* Date of Birth:
* Country Or Territory:
 
After following the instructions in the above, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences it may cost you.
 
Warning! Account owners that refuse to update his or her account after 5 working days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
 
Thank you for your understanding.
 
Web mail Online Team.

Warning Code: USV64MT1


Anti-fraud resources: