See more recent articles: Fake banks and Web sites in the news

2004

Dec 31 2004 - Information Age infoconomy.com:
The lawless Internet - Direct action
Old Coaster, is a qualified doctor, retired stockbroker and former bank board member [...] As part of the group "Artists Against 419", he is on a crusade to shut down the fake bank sites that scammers use [...] After verifying that a site has no legitimate status with a banking regulator, the activists ask the web hoster to close it down. Most oblige but if not, the group asks large numbers of associates to visit the offending site using a downloadable tool, Lad Vampire.

Dec 09 2004 - AARP Bulletin (Switzerland):
Scam Alert - Can't Win for Losing
The catch: No prize money is released until the "winners" pay customs duties, taxes, or shipping and handling fees, usually to a Western Union office in Canada. Swindlers can wreak even more damage if they can sell their victims on the convenience of automatically withdrawing the fees from their bank accounts. Once they have access, the con artists can deplete the account. Law enforcement officials say the Canadian lottery hoax is robbing Americans of about $120 million a year.

Dec 07 2004 - 20 Minuten Schweiz (Switzerland):
Falschen Banken an den Kragen gehen
Rund eine Viertelmillion Franken Umsatz machen falsche Internet-Bankhäuser laut FBI pro Jahr. Die Betrügereien funktionieren denkbar simpel: Auf seriös wirkenden Websites werden vermeintlich lukrative Bankgeschäfte angeboten. Die Betreiber der Sites warten ganz einfach, bis sich Interessenten melden. Ist das Geld erst überwiesen, ist es futsch. Verschiedene Organisationen haben sich nun dem Kampf gegen die Bank-Betrüger verschrieben ­ und zwar mit unorthodoxen Mitteln. Mit Anwendungen wie beispielsweise den Lad Vampires sollen die falschen Fuffziger in die Knie gezwungen werden.

Dec 05 2004 - TELEPOLIS (Heise, Germany):
Betrügt die Betrüger!
Einige Gruppen versuchen der Online-Mafia, die im Internet Fake-Banken eröffnet, ein Schnippchen zu schlagen [...] Eine effektive Methode, den kriminellen Websites zu schaden und sie zur Aufgabe zu zwingen, sind der Ladvampire und Fake Banker's Nightmare. Per Quellcode der Seite werden die Grafiken der Pseudo-Banken immer wieder geladen, und das Datenaufkommen zu erhöhen. Das Ziel ist es, einen error 509 zu produzieren: "Bandwidth Limit Reached". Wenn nur genügend andere Websites sich beteiligen, können die Billig-Websites schnell in die Knie gezwungen werden. "Artists against 419" ruft dazu auf: "Jeder ist ein Künstler!"translated by Google

Nov 16 2004 - Ghanaweb.com:
Beware of White Collar Scams
Others may be in the form of "spoof banks" where there is supposedly money in your name already on deposit; "paying" for a purchase with a check larger than the amount required and asking for change to be advanced; fake lottery 419; and ordering items and commodities off "trading" sites on the web and then cheating the seller. The variations of Advance Fee Fraud (419) are very creative and virtually endless.

Oct 30 2004 - The Times:
Scam baiting
They are the online jungle's lowlife - eBay auction scammers, Nigerian advance-fee fraudsters, fake bank website "phishers" trawling for the next sucker. Their lucrative cons play on human greed and naivety, yet they evade detection through the anonymity of the web [...] But what if the fraudsters themselves could be conned?

Oct 03 2004 - Opinietijdschrift van de Landelijke Studenten Vakbond (The Netherlands):
De internet-oorlog van Scambaiters
Zo is er de lad vampire (lad is, net als mugu, een ander woord voor oplichters), een website die door het constant herladen van de sites van nepbanken ervoor zorgt dat de datalimiet overschreden wordt of de providers van de websites worden geattendeerd op hun criminele klant [...] www.aa419.org is de kunstenaarssite die bandbreedte opeet van nepbanken

Sept 15 2004 - MSN Money:
Advance fee fraud
The UK's National Criminal Intelligence Agency says £150 million a year is reaped by variations of this fraud. [...] In the last year, the NCIS says it has detected an increasing number of frauds in which bogus bank websites are set up, and the victims are provided with a PIN number and logon ID which apparently allows them to see that the prize has already cleared into the account. The identities of genuine companies are sometimes used to add an extra layer of authenticity.

Aug 14 2004 - Het Parool (The Netherlands):
Fraudeurs maken bankwebsites na (Dutch banks and their illegal twins from Nigeria) Websites van banken worden regelmatig 'gekaapt' door oplichters [...] Oplichters zetten zulke sites op om onwetende beleggers te bewegen geld over te maken. De bedenkers zouden in dezelfde kringen verkeren als de verzenders van Nigeriaanse bedelmails waarin mensen om medewerking wordt gevraagd bij het witwassen van een grote hoeveelheid geld.

Aug 11 2004 - ABCNEWS:
Regulators Shut Down Phony Bedrock Bank
Federal regulators shut down a phony Internet bank claiming to be located in the tiny Colorado town of Bedrock population 10 near the Utah state line.

Aug 14 2004 - Het Parool (The Netherlands):
Fraudeurs maken bankwebsites na
Websites van banken worden regelmatig 'gekaapt' door oplichters. Die proberen met een professioneel opgezette nepsite argeloze klanten te lokken. De webnamen - Abn-Ambro.com, rabobamk.nl of sns-bank.nl - lijken erg op het orgineel.

Aug 13 2004 - Monterey County Herald, et al:
International email scams score billions with offer of millions "I had one person last week who lost $40,000," said a college student who is a member of Artists against 419, one of a growing number of Web sites devoted to foiling advance-fee scams. The college student, known online as Sister Mary Catherine..."

Aug 08 2004 - Guardian UK:
Only winners are con gangs
Log on to aa419.org and learn how you can help to shut down fake lotteries.

Aug 08 2004 - This is Guernsey:
Guernsey Financial Services Commission battles bogus Internet banks
Over the last three years, there had been an increase in fraudsters setting up bogus bank websites. These look like a genuine bank and claim to have a connection to a reputable jurisdiction such as Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man. Victims are referred to the sites by the fraudsters who say they are independent of the bogus bank. Investors are encouraged to open accounts with a promise that they will receive all, or a percentage, of a large sum of money. The bogus bank asks for an initial deposit and, after paying, that is the last the victim will see of it.

Aug 02 2004 - The Register:
Net vigilantes target 419 sites
Artists Against 419 (AA419) has organised a 48-hour online protest against advanced fee fraud, otherwise known as the 419 scam. The protest is an organised version of the SlashDot effect whereby a huge number of visitors turn up at a site, overwhelming its bandwidth allocation. The virtual flash mob began at midnight on 1 August and has already taken down three of its targets.

Aug 02 2004 - webwork-magazin.net (Germany):
[http://www.webwork-magazin.net/news/artikel/2370 Flash Mob Online - die Macht der Internetnutzer?]
Die Gruppe aa419 hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, Webseiten von Betrügern innerhalb von vierundzwanzig Stunden zu schließen.

Aug 02 2004 - onlinekosten.de (Germany):
Virtueller Flash Mob gegen Online-Betrüger
Das Aktionsbündnis "artists against 419" (aa419) geht seit dem ersten August mit einer breit gefächerten Kampagne gegen vier Websites mit falschen Lotterien vor. translated by google

Aug 02 2004 - WebWereld (The Netherlands):
" title="in Dutch Nederlandse provider haalt sites neploterijen offline
Protagonist.nl kwam in actie naar aanleiding van een 'online flash mob' die is gericht tegen Nigeriaanse oplichterssites. De organisatie 'Artists Against 419' roept internetgebruikers sinds zondag op om massaal de sites van vier neploterijen te bezoeken. Try a babelfished version here ;)

July 25 2004 - Mail on Sunday:
FINANCIAL Mail's list of fake banks to avoid has a new recruit
A call to the tricksters on their website phone number 020 7060 0487 was automatically transferred to an unknown destination where a man with a heavy West African accent tried unsuccessfully to convince me he was a banker.

July 20 2004 - BankInfoSecurity.com:
Social Engineering Offers Increased Threat to Banking Industry
Please be advised that the Web site is not operated by the OCC. It is a fraudulent attempt to acquire personal confidential information from users of the site for the purpose of identity theft.

July 16 2004 - News24:
419 scam hits SA cabinet
Photos of the ministers who are unwittingly being involved (under false names), are published on a website where they are portrayed as directors or senior managers of First National Bank (FNB).

July 12 2004 - The Register:
419 "bankers" back in business
As is the case with UMCIB, Trans-Atlantic Private Bank is not registered with the Financial Services Authority.

July 12 2004 - Toronto Star:
Scambaiters lure fraudsters
Artists Against 419 takes a different approach ... against fake bank sites used by scammers.

July 11 2004 - Star-Telegram, Texas:
GETTING HOOKED
Artists against 419 also conducts monthly "flash mobs," a vigilante effort to shut down fraudulent bank sites.

July 09 2004 - Cape Cod Times:
Vacation getaway
Family taken in by phony Web site offering $3,500 Cape summer rental

July 09 2004 - The Register:
Anatomy of a 419 scam
The following is an account of how one US citizen recently lost $1,000 to a UK-based 419 outfit who used a combination of plausible correspondence, phone calls and a fake bank website to reel in their victim.

July 08 2004 - Town Times:
Better Business Bureau hopes to curtail "phishing"Comprehensive phishing resources are available on the Internet for consumers at [1] [2] [3] and [4]

July 07 2004 - Amsterdam Weekly:
Having fun with 419 fraudsters page ONETWOTHREEFOUR
Well, you could always join that other global phenomenon, the 'flash mob', a new technique against the 419 scam.

July 05 2004 - THE WASHINGTON TIMES:
Thieves target online bankers
A new threat against online banking customers has emerged. Internet thieves are secretly downloading software through pop-up ads to record keystrokes as people type. The threat targeted users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

June 24 2004 - Khaleej Times, Dubai:
Beware of fraudulent companies
A recent example of this was the uncovering of Saturn Jobs, a fraudulent recruitment company, which operated from Britain, and duped thousands of Indians and Bangladeshis of their money by promising them jobs in the Middle East.

June 23 2004 - Reuters:
How to outfox the email scammers
British police recently estimated that phishing scams cost UK banks an estimated 60 million pounds last year. The economic toll of phishing in the United States is much worse, costing American banks and credit card companies $1.2 billion (660 million pounds) in 2003.

June 22 2004 - BBC:
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3808397.stm How to avoid getting caught by the lottery fraudsters]
Ultimate FI's impressive-looking website was registered to a man in Amsterdam who had already been connected to other fake banking sites used in online scams.

June 22 2004 - Netcraft.com:
After months of rapid growth, the number of phishing attacks leveled off in May, rising just 6 percent with a total of 1,197 unique campaigns, according to new data from the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

June 19 2004 - THE WASHINGTON TIMES:
The Federal Trade Commission has settled civil charges with two men accused of stealing consumers' personal information by setting up fake Web sites designed to look like those of legitimate companies.

June 17 2004 - THE NEW YORK TIMES:
E-mail Scammers Face Dose of Vigilante Justice
For instance, Karl Dailey, the sheriff of Dawes County, Nebraska, has also joined the effort. After local residents started asking him about the schemes, he said, he got involved with the fraud-baiters at Artists Against 419 (www.aa419.org) and even helped take down a fake bank Web site. Same story at E-Commerce Times

June 16 2004 - Ghana Police Service:
SENEGALESE NABBED FOR FRAUD
The fact of the case were that the police on May 26,received information that the accused had created a website on the internet advertising a non-existing bank with the name Savana Allied Bank Ghana Limited with the intention to defraud unsuspecting foreigners to deposit a minimum of $5,000.

June 13 2004 - Mail on Sunday:
Phantom lottery is a prize rip-off
There is no lottery. There is no prize. And in any case, you can't win a lottery if you don't buy a ticket.

June 11 2004 - de Volkskrant (The Netherlands):
[http://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/printversie/1086845266001.html Fortis doet aangifte tegen nep-website]
Fortis heeft aangifte gedaan tegen de website fortisonline.com. De site gebruikt het logo van de bankverzekeraar, en pretendeert onderdeel van het bedrijf te zijn. Fortis heeft de site donderdag ontdekt, zegt een woordvoerder.

May 11 2004 - The Register:
Lottery scams new flavour of the month
If victims do not want to pay upfront fees, they can open an (online) account with a specified bank, whose "policy" requires a deposit of around $3,000. This bank, however, is fake.

May 2nd 2004 - Mail on Sunday:
Get on the web to hit the cheats
You don't need any technical knowledge to help attack the crooks. Just go to artists against 419 Let's see how many crooks we can kick off the internet in one day.

April 24 2004 - BBC:
E-mail scams cost banks £1m
E-mail scams have so far cost Britain's banks more than a million pounds and there is concern the bill could rise as they become more sophisticated.

2003

Dec 31 2003 - Telegraph:
Bank of England falls victim
The Bank of England became the latest victim of email fraudsters yesterday when hundreds of thousands of people were sent hoax messages urging them to download software from what appeared to be a Bank address.

Dec 25 2003 - Chinadaily:
Bank in Hong Kong warns customers about fake Web site

Dec 19 2003 - Vanguard , Nigeria:
Bank scam goes to the Highlands
The Nigerian fraudsters said that as a non-resident, he had to pay $57,000 in tax into a CTB bank account in Scotland to release the millions.

Dec 12 2003 - Daily Record:
30 Billion Fraudsters Trail Ends at Chemist Shop
It's thought up to 70,000 customers worldwide have been ripped off by the CTB Private Bank, aka the Continental Trust Bank. The same story at BBC and at Scotsman.com Business</p>

Dec 5 2003 - Forbes:
HSBC reports fake Web site in Hong Kong

Nov 13 2003 - SecurityFocus:
Banking Scam Revealed
This document uncovers a spam gang who seeks to acquire your banking information, and the response from one of the targeted victims: Citibank.

Oct 24 2003 - MurthyDotCom:
FTC Discovers Fraudulent Diversity Lottery Websites
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revealed that there are eight U.S. websites which have been accused of fraudulently taking money as payment for submitting applications for the FY2005 diversity lottery.

Aug 31 2003 - Guardian:
Phoney websites earning millions for fraudsters
I have seen these sites and emails myself and they are often very sophisticated,' said an NCIS spokesman. 'They are extremely convincing, especially to people not very experienced online.

Aug 26 2003 - The Sacramento Bee:
A victim of fake banker Roland Adams
A victim was given a special password for the bank's Web site, Bancofafrica.com. When she browsed through it, she saw her name next to the large amount destined for her. "I thought the information was from a real bank," she said, explaining why she wired $8,000 to a man in Toronto.

Aug 20 2003 - Tampa Bay Business Journal:
Officials warn of banking scams
State banking regulators have found newspaper advertisements and Web sites for unauthorized companies called Century Credit Union and Zurich Credit Union that appear to be sponsored by banks or credit unions and that even use the logos of legitimate financial institutions, a release stated.

Aug 18 2003 - Sacramento Business Journal:
Roland Adams admits Nigerian scam conspiracy
He entered guilty pleas to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and to launder money as part of an international "Nigerian bank scam" that defrauded its victims of more than $2.1 million, federal prosecutors said.

Aug 2003 - NEWS.com.au:
Russian mafia "in fake bank sites"
The Russian mafia could be behind the latest phoney websites designed to steal money from customers of two main Australian banks.

July 11 2003 - The Register:
Amsterdam: home of the 419 lottery scam
And the web site's visual effects are totally inappropriate for a trustworthy financial institution.

July 9 2003 - Danvers Police Dept.:
Lottery Website Scam
The FBI is investigating and has tracked the Web site sponsor to Nigeria.

June 23 2003 - Web Hosting News by HostReview.com:
40 Fraudulent Escrow Web Sites Shutdown by CarBuyingTips.com
Many sites illegally use TRUSTe and Verisign logos, typically using "Safe" or "Secure" in their site name.

May 14 2003 - Network World Fusion:
Fake bank Web site scam reaches U.S.
Bank of America has warned its customers to be aware of a scam which attempts to get them to log on to a fake Web site which then captures their personal financial details.

May 02 2003 - emerce.com (The Netherlands):
Amsterdam uitvalsbasis voor Afrikaanse loterijfraude
De Metropolitan Police in Londen waarschuwt voor loterij-oplichters die Nederland als uitvalsbasis gebruiken. De fraudeurs, zo goed als zeker van West-Afrikaanse afkomst, maken in mailtjes geadresseerden wijs dat zij miljoenen hebben gewonnen in een Nederlandse sweepstake-loterij [...] De website van Sprint Securities is inmiddels uit de lucht gehaald, maar die van Eurolite en Brabant Internatinal bestaan nog.

April 17 2003 - MSNBC news:
Fake bank site part of Nigerian scam
One pair of victims has reportedly lost $100,000 to such a fake bank scam.

2002

Dec 9 2002 - ICC's Commercial Crime Services:
CCS warns against fake cyber banks CCC has warned investors to beware a new twist on the Nigerian 419 Advance Fee Fraud after a number of fictitious banking websites were discovered to be falsely aligning themselves with respectable offshore financial institutions.

Oct 8 2002 - BBC NEWS:
Fake bank website cons victims
UK National Criminal Intelligence Service, (NCIS), said at least two Canadians had lost more than $100,000 after being taken in by the fake website.

Aug 18 2002 - Sunday Times (South Africa):
Scorpions bust website scammers
Nigerians set up fake SA Reserve Bank site to lure victims.

2001

April 17 2001 - Computerworld:
Four arrested in online banking scam
Authorities have arrested two individuals in Switzerland and another two in San Francisco in connection with an Internet banking scam worth approximately $3.9 billion ... The scam involved Web sites.

2000

Aug 7 2000 - BusinessWeek:
Sounding the Alarm over Fake Bank Sites
Regulators are worried enough about the new possibilities for online banking fraud to issue an alert.

July 26 2000 - CNN:
Fake bank Web sites trick consumers
How criminals set up a "spoof" Web site that closely mimics a real bank's

Related Links

• On Our Site
  • aa419's Database of 419 Web Sites
  • Is this a legit site? -- Online search tools to do your own research
• External Links
  • News Section on International 419 Coalition