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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: "MASHREQ Internet Banking" (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:42:31 -0700
Subject: Mashreq Important Notice !!!

  MASHREQ Internet Banking Account Review Notification.

MASHREQ Internet Banking is constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening some accounts in our system.
As a new security measure to protect you from fraudsters accessing your Internet banking account,
We recently decided to review your account, so as to help us provide you with a more secure service.
your access to sensitive account features will be limited.
you have to log-in within 48hrs after receiving this notice to re-update your Internet banking account for urgent review.
After 48hrs your account will be disabled.
We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

Kindly re-update your Internet banking information by clicking on the link below.:

Update Your Account Registration

Thank you.

Customer Service
(c) (MASHREQ Online Banking ,Account Department UAE) 2010

Anti-fraud resources: