419 scam: "BMW AUTOMOBILE LOTTERY AWARD" <verification_bmw@hotmail.com> Winning Announcement

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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "bmwautomobile@admin.in.th" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!

Fraud email example:

From: "BMW AUTOMOBILE LOTTERY AWARD" <verification_bmw@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: bmwautomobile@admin.in.th
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:24:44 +0300
Subject: Winning Announcement

Finally today, we announce the winners of the BMW PROMOTIONAL LOTTERY,Your
company or your personal e-mail address,attached to winning number
34-11-06-45-40-122, with serial number 678901, consequently won in the sixth
lottery category held on the 29th of January 2010. You have been approved
for lump sums pay out of 750,000 British pounds in cash along with a brand 5
series sedan bmw automobile Credited to file REF NO:BMW-3456003/09E and
winning number 34-11-06-45-40-122.Selection process was carried out through a
random selection in our computerized email selection machine (ORACE) from a
database ofover 1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of
the world.

Mrs .Sheila Johnson
bmwautomobile@admin.in.th

REF NO: BMW-3456003/09E

1.) FULL NAME:
2.) AGE:
3.) SEX:
4.) ADDRESS:
5.) ZIP/POSTAL CODE:
6.) STATE/PROVINCE:
7.) COUNTRY:
8.) PHONE:
9.) OCCUPATION/POSITION:
10.) COMPANY

Congratulations once more from the entire Management and Staff of BMW
AUTOMOBILE AWARD DEPT and keep trusting BMW Automobile for top quality
automobiles.

Engr Andy Robin
DIRECTOR OF PROMOTIONS,

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam