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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:
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "oleksandrkolesnychenko@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Oleksandr Kolesnychenko" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <oleksandrkolesnychenko@outlook.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 23:23:36 -0700
Subject: I am Oleksandr Kolesnychenko
I am Oleksandr Kolesnychenko. I was one of Mr Andriy Kliuyev’s aid and the most confidential and
trusted of the staff. Mr Kliuyev who used to be the Head of the Presidential Administration during the
reign of president Viktor Yanukovych who was president of Ukraine from 25th February 2010 until last year.
I am in custody of a huge amount of money I would like to invest in real estate or your line of business in
your country.Contact me if you are capable and suitable for partnership and I will provide the funds for the
investment.
Your quick response will be appreciated. PLEASE REPLY TO THE BELOW ADDRESS:
oleksandrkolesnychenko@outlook.com
Yours faithfully,
Oleksandr Kolesnychenko
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Anti-fraud resources:
