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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: "MGR, E-Business & Card Services" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.cottrelldavison@yahoo.cn>
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:40:59 -0300
Subject: Fund Release Notification.

Fund Release Notification.
 
 
Dear beneficiary,
 
 
You are welcome to HT Bank Plc. The payment Bank for the 2012 UN Online Promo. We are pleased to be at your service. We are Regulated and Stipulated by the Financial Service Authority (FSA), the financial institutions that govern all financial activities around the World, after a proper screening and verification excises that was conducted in our Bank today in addition to receiving confirmation from the UN and The ECOWAS Online Promotional board, that you are one of the promo winners of 4.5 Million USD.
 
 
This is to inform you that your funds have been deposited in our transit account and will be available for immediate transfer into your account which you are to set up, you are advice to open a Foreign Currency Account with us where your winnings can be transferred into.
 
 
This account will be activated after you have made the initial deposit of $350 USD and above as your account activation fee or you can open an online account in our bank and make your transfer online into any account of your choice.
 
 
With our online banking, you can enjoy the convenience of managing your finances quickly and easily at a time that suits you. You can bank safely and securely - at work, home or abroad.
 
 
Our online banking enables you to do the following.
 
 
1. Check your balance, monitor transactions and print your account statement.
2. Pay utility bills, transfer funds between your accounts and to other Beneficiaries.
 
 
Once you open an online account with us we shall send to you, your login information's, enter your user ID and password and then click the login button then change the password to the one of your choice. Once you have
successfully logged on, please remember to change your password by selecting the 'Personal' option from the menu. It is very important you keep your security details secret at all times to prevent unauthorized access to your account.
 
 
What next?
 
 
We'll advise that you get back to us within the next 2 working days. Upon receipt of your email we shall send you our sign up application form to be completely filled, signed and return to us which will allow us to create your account.
 
 
Please Note that no deductions of any fees is allowed because we received your money in BOND and it's been duly insured, based on our policies and as a result of the space of time available, you are hereby advised to act fast so we can provide you with the best of our banking services.
 
 
Please contact me with this email address only Email:  mr.cottrelldavison@yahoo.cn
 
 
Yours faithfully,
 
 
For: Hallporte Trust Bank PLC
Mr. Cottrell Davison
MGR, E-Business & Card Services
HTBank Tel: +234-708200-5348

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