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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:
- The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "the bmw automobile company" (no such lottery exists)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- 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.
- +447045700595 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- bmwgroup_infoclaimsdpt@yahoo.co.uk
Fraud email example:
From: gladnewsletter@mchsi.com (BMW PROMO OFFICE)
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:18:40 +0000
Subject: BMWP/congratulations!!......ticket no:................5188
BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
77 Park Lane,Ellesfield Avenue,
Bracknell, RG12 8TA, London, United Kingdom.
The BMW Automobile Company, wishes to congratulate you on your success as one
of our Ten Star Prize Winner in this years 2007 BMW AUTOMOBILE PROMOTIONS held
July 2007, This makes you the proud owner of £ 500,000.00 and a brand new BMW
530 iM Sport Saloon Car with Registration YK56TCU.
To claim your prize Contact the Financial Claims Manager office with the
underlisted informations as soon as possible: Full Name, Address, Country, Age,
Sex, Occupation, Phone, Fax. and your Lucky Ticket number: 5647600545188 and
serial number: BMWP / 556543450906
MR ALEX SUDESH.
Email: bmwgroup_infoclaimsdpt@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +447045700595
Engr Michael Goode.
Director of Promotions.
Winner Ticket Number: ---------5188
Anti-fraud resources:
