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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: "HM Revenue & Customs" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2014 16:29:12 +0700
Subject: HM Revenue & Customs - Tax Refund Notification

Tax Refund Notification!

A tax refund of 218.60 GBP - Still Pending. Due to invalid account details records, we were unable to credit your account.
In order to process your refund you will need to complete the attached application form.
Your refund may take up to 15 days to process, please make sure you complete the form correctly.
To access your tax refund, please follow the steps below:

- download the Tax Refund Form attached to this email
- open it in a browser
- follow the instruction on your screen
 

NOTE: For security reasons, we will record your IP Address, the date and time. Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued.
 

 

Best regards,
HM Revenue & Customs

Anti-fraud resources: