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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: "HMRC Online" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:28:21 +0100
Subject: Tax Refund Notification

Tax Refund Notification:

A tax refund of 358.52 GBP - Still Pending. Due to invalid account record, we were unable to credit your account.
This is a reminder to process your Tax Refund request as soon as possible, Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-3 days in order to process it.

Note : A refund can be delayed for variety of reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.

Click Here to submit your tax refund request:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal

Best Regards HM Revenue & Customs .
Tax Refund Notification | United Kingdom Department of the Treasury.

 

 

Anti-fraud resources: