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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: "NATWEST" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2022 11:07:38 -0000
Subject: SECURITY MESSAGE - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

Dear Customer,

For security reasons we have temporarily restricted access to your Online Banking service & your Debit or Credit Card. This is because your account Credit or Debit Card may have been used at eBay UK for £199.99 GBP on two different devices (a PC, Laptop, Tablet or Mobile), within a short period of time.

To continue banking digitally with a higher level of security, we need you to complete our new (FSCS) security procedures. This will help us in safeguarding your account and financial assets from unrecognized access in future.

Please note: Failure to comply with our account verification process may lead to temporary suspension of access to our online and telephone banking service.

If you don't remember doing this please Contact us

Yours sincerely,

NatWest Online and mobile banking team

 

Anti-fraud resources: