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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: "UPDATE YOUR ACCOUNT" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2016 20:10:59 +0100
Subject: Re-Validate Your Mailbox

Kindly Update Your Account
 
Please reduce your mailbox size. Your Account has almost exceeded it's storage Limit.
Most incoming messages may be deleted or placed on pending if the Storage Upgrade Process is not verified.
Click here: http://www.edoctorsnote.com/wp/wp-content/upgrade/validate.htm : to do reduce size automatically and increase your Account Storage.
 
 
Thanks,
 
Mail System Administrator
This notification was sent by Mail Account Administraion ; Failure to comply automatically puts your account off our mailing lists.Account Storage Upgrade 2016
All Rights Reserved

Anti-fraud resources: