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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: "Commonwealth Bank" (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2014 16:17:15 -0400
Subject: You have 1 important mail alert from your account Administrator!

You have 1 important mail alert from your account Administrator!
 
We strongly advise you should update your account and resolve the problem.
 
Click here to proceed Click here.
 
 
Failure to do this will lead to your account been suspended or de-activated.
 
Thanks for your co-operation.
 
 
Regards,
Commonwealth Bank! Account Service.

Note Your Client number and password to your Commonwealth Bank must be valid to complete Your update!

Anti-fraud resources: