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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- +447087697139 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Allan Hurvitz" <investconsult@clarofree.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: allanhurvitz@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2014 12:14:43 -0500
Subject: From Mr. Allan Hurvitz (Reply)
From Mr. Allan Hurvitz
10 Nether Street Tally Ho Corner
North Finchley London N12 0GA
London UK.
Attn: Sir,
Please do accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not meet your
personal ethics although, I wish to use this medium to get in touch with
you first because it's the fastest means.
Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and
may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior
consent, but please treat it with personal courtesy.
I am an investment consultant with a prime bank here in London. I am
presently working as an investment consultant/ Investment Solutions
Officer with the bank here at their London office.
I want to transfer and trust this investment fund in your care. It will
be in my interest to transfer this fund worth of £14.5M Great British
Pounds (Fourteen Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling)
in an account offshore.
I am posed to work this deal out if we can do business. As at this
moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this business until
your response is received.
Can you be of assistance to me as my partner? I am quite sure the
process will be easy and successful. Let me know your opinion.
As we have not met before, I will give you every detail you need to know
about me as we progress with the business.
Please email me at your own convenient time in respect of this
transaction. It will be beneficial and rewarding to both parties concerned.
I thank you for spearing moments of your very busy schedules to read my
proposal. Send your response to my email address
Thank you for your time and attention.
Regards,
Mr. Allan Hurvitz.
Tel: + 44 708 769 7139.
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Anti-fraud resources:
