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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: "o2 Message Centre" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:55:04 -0800
Subject: o2 Update


Our records indicates that your account information is out of date!

Click on the below reference to verify and update your account/billing information.


 Click here to update


Failure to verify your account details,may lead to your account suspended and your phone number will be terminated you may be charged more to reactivate.



o2 Service Center

© 2011 Telefónica UK Limited

Anti-fraud resources: