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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: "RBS" (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2017 20:20:21 +0100
Subject: Important Message

Dear Customer,

We have been trying to contact you. However, we are unable to reach you. For your security, we have temporarily disable access to your account.

This might be due to either of the following reasons:

1. A recent change in your personal information. (eg: billing address, phone)
2. Submitting incorrect account information during online payment process.
3. Logging from an unrecognised machine or device.
4. Too many incorrect login attempt

To continue banking online please review your account as soon as possible to ensure that your personal information are up to date.

Login

Please note: If we detect a sign in attempt with your Customer number from an unrecognised device we may decide that we want to confirm that it's really you. You must complete all steps otherwise you will not be able to use the online service.

Yours sincerely

Managing Director, Retail Banking

The Royal Bank of Scotland Online and mobile banking Security Team
© 2005-2017 The Royal Bank of Scotland plc

Anti-fraud resources: