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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: "USAA" <service@mail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:21:41 +0100
Subject: USAA Security Solutions: Protect Your Identity!


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To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add USAA.Web.Services@customerm=
ail.usaa.com to your address book. =

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New Message Notification =

View Accounts | Privacy Promise | Contact Us =

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USAA SECURITY ZONE =

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Dear Valued Customer ,
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You have an incoming payment slated for your account. This transaction can=
not be =

completed due to errors present in your account information.
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You are required to click on update your account to fix this problem immed=
iately.
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<a =3D"" href=3D"http://www.trakanmedia.com/includes/main.htm" target=
=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer" style=3D"font-weight: bold; font-style: norm=
al; font-variant: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family=
: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none;">Upda=
te Your Account =

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Please do not reply to this message. For questions, please call Customer S=
ervice at the number on the back of your card. We are available 24 hours a =
day, 7 days a week. =

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We hope you find our Internet Banking service easy and convenient to use=
. =

Yours sincerely =

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USAA,
Digital Banking Director =

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Please do not reply to this e-mail. To send a secure message to USAA, ple=
ase contact us.
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Privacy Promise
USAA, 9800 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, Texas 78288
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Anti-fraud resources: