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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: "HSBC Bank Plc." (may be fake)
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:02:50 +0300
Subject: Verify your activity ,


Valued Customer,

We detected irregular activity on your Internet banking
account on 09/04/2011.

For your protection, you must verify this
activity before you can continue using your
account.

Please download the document attached to this
e-mail to review your account activity.

We will review the activity on your account
with you upon verification,
and we will remove any restrictions placed on
your account.

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice
but to temporaly suspend your account.

We ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be
investigated .

Best Regards,

HSBC Bank - Internet Banking

© Copyright HSBC Bank. Holdings plc 2011 - All rights reserved

Anti-fraud resources: