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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: "St.George Notification" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 01:31:10 -0700
Subject: New Profile Information Update: Please Verify

New Page 1

Dear Customer,

Your password for St.George Internet Banking* was changed on Sept 26th, 2011.

If you did not change your password, Logon to your Internet Banking to stop this change.

We take your security very seriously. To help keep your Online Banking information safe, be careful not to share your password with anyone else.

Please be aware that will never ask you to provide, confirm or verify confidential information like your online banking ID, password, account numbers, balances or PIN through regular email. If you receive an email that appears to be from St.George which asks you to provide or verify this type of information, it may be fraudulent. For more information please visit our Guide to Privacy & Security

Please do not reply to this email, as it was sent from an unmonitored account.

* © 2011 St.George Bank

Anti-fraud resources: