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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: "ULSTER BANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <aedmund.ulsbank@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2017 05:57:07 -0700
Subject: Re: Ulster Bank eLectronic Notification Service (UBeNS)

 
 
Dear Sir,
 
Ulster Bank eLectronic Notification Service (UBeNS)
 
 
Did you direct or authorized any wire transfer deposit to our charity bank account?  We have received an amount of USD450,948.12 through our charity bank account on your behalf , we do not know what this funds is for.
 
Our bank do not have any transaction with you or your company that we know of so we wonder why depositing such payment to us.
 
Attached remittance document revealed  that this remittance was made by United Nations/IMF compensation exercise . Our question is why remitting that amount to our charity account rather than going direct to your banking account?
 
We must be very optimistic about this deposit before considering a wire. You are hereby advised to send your full name and country for re-confirmation and be absolutely sure.
 
Thanks and best regards
 
Ulster Accounts Unit
London

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