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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million british pounds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447035968890 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Achilleos" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <evanachilleos1957@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:29:31 -0700
Subject: Business Offer .
Greetings Dear Friend ,
This is a Private & Confidential Investment Offer. It is my sincere hope and expectations to establish a good business relationship with you. I am Mr. Evan Achilleos, Head: Financial Controller Manager of Alpha Private Bank London. I have a business proposal for you that will benefit to both of us, It's concerning a dormant account of Ten Million British Pounds Sterling in my bank left behind by late Mr. Andreas Schranner who died in the plane crash of Air France Concorde flight AF4590 which crashed on July 25th 2000. On further investigation, I discovered that he died with his wife and entire family, since his death none of his relations has come forward to lay claims for this money as the heir. He died without identifying with anybody about these funds as all efforts to trace members of his neither family or relatives proved all to no avail with several attempts. reply my message if only you are interested for more details .
Best regards,
Mr. Evan Achilleos .
Handy: 44 703-5968890
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Anti-fraud resources:
