Sadly, the United Mercantile Credit & Investment Bank (UMCIB) - an online front for a UK-based 419 advance fee fraud gang - has shut up shop.

Following our investigation last week - Anatomy of a 419 scam - which chronicled how the scammers had taken a US citzen for $1,000 using a combination of email, telephone calls and their online bogus mercantile presence, it appears that the site's hosts have decided they no longer wish to do business with the Lads from Lagos.

Indeed, attempts to access www.umcib.com are met with an entirely appropriate "Error 400 Bad Request" message, and the url no longer points to any ISP.

Naturally, we got a quick grab of the bank's main page before the axe fell, and readers can have a shufti here. The full story on UMCIB and the gang behind it is here. ®

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