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.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ATM Card Holders database <cardbase@ecobank.com> Reply-To: no-reply@ecobank.com Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:38:34 -0700 Subject: ECOBANK ATM CARD IMPORTANT UPDATES FOR JAN - APRIL 2012.
Dear Ecobank card holder,
Ecobank is constantly working to ensure security, by regularly screening ATM cards in our system.
We recently reviewed your ATM card details, and we require you to update your ATM card information on our new
secure server.
Your Ecobank card is now limited, and you are now required to update your ATM card information within a WEEK, to
remove limitation on your account.
Please update and verify your ATM Card information by clicking
the link below and endevour to include your curent pin to activate a master reset pin:
