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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: "noreply@ecobank.com" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 10:38:42 +0200
Subject: Ecobank Internet Banking Login Account Alert

Dear Customer,

We're currently upgrading our systems to bring enhanced features to your Internet Banking experience. As a result, your account is temporarily unavailable.

Security Alert

Please download the file attached and upgrade your account to our new Internet Banking system.

Note: fail to upgrade your account, it will be automatically closed.

After this step, you are permitted to access your Internet Banking System.

We thank you for your continued patronage.

Yours sincerely,
Ecobank, the Pan African Bank
www.ecobank.com
 

This is a confidential email and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please inform us immediately. You are not allowed to copy or use it for any purpose nor disclose its contents to any other person Please note that there is a risk that information requested via email can be tampered with, by hackers while en route to your mailbox or seen by unauthenticated individuals if your mailbox security is inadequate E-Statements are your contribution towards a safer, cleaner environment.
We thank you for contributing to the protection of our environment, do not print this mail.

Anti-fraud resources: