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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: "HSBC Bank UK" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:07:43 +0100
Subject: HSBC Internet Banking Message Alert Online

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/themes/html/hsbcukpersonal/logo.gif  
                                       The world's local bank

Dear HSBC Account Holders,

We sent this messages to all HSBC customers due to internet server error

which have been disturbing our database,if you are a user of  HSBC Bank

you required to confirm your bank details to gain access back to your account.

Click here to proceed.

Thank you

HSBC Bank

Customer Care Service

Anti-fraud resources: