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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <claimdept@bmwgroupinc.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:43:22 -0700
Subject: THE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS

THE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTION DEPARTMENT OF
THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
22 GARDEN CLOSE, STAMFORD, LINCS, PE9 2YP, UK
REFERENCE NUMBER: BMW:2551256003/23
!!!CONGRATULATION YOU ARE A WINNER!!!.
The Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness
Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile Company, wishes to congratulate you on your success as one of our TEN(10) STAR PRIZE WINNER in this years' BMW
Automobile International Awareness Promotion (IAP) held on Month of 11th, Jan 2010,
in London UK.
This makes you the proud owner of a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon car(cost value of ?19, 465.00GBP) and a cash prize of ?500, 000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Great British pounds).The car comes with a special BMW Insurance Cover for one whole year, that is, till the next promotion in 2009. It also comes with a one year warranty and FREE repairs at any BMW AUTOMOBILE depot or service station worldwide.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIZE YEAR: 2010, MODEL: 530iAColor (exterior/interior): Black Sapphire Metallic/Black Leather, Mileage: 5, Transmission: Automatic 6 Speed, Options: Cold weather package, premium package, fold down rear seats w/ski bag,
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our
Computerized Email Selection System (C.E.S.S.) from a database of over a million email addresses from the world wide web. Each email address was attached to a ticket number and your email address with ticket number: 5647600545188 and serial number: BMWP/556543450906 was randomly selected as the star prize winner amongst other consolation prize winners.
For you to collect your prizes, kindly fill the verification form below and
send it to the Claims Manager, Mr.phillip Donald our claims department through
email, stating your receipt of this notification. He has been mandated to offer
you assistance and facilitate the urgent delivery of your prizes.
Mr.Phillip Donald
Claims Manager,
BMW Claims Department,
THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, LONDON
Email: claimdept@bmwgroupinc.com
Phone Number: +44702470316
1.) FULL NAME:
2.) AGE:
3.) SEX:
4.) ADDRESS:
5.) ZIP/POSTAL CODE:
6.) STATE/PROVINCE:
7.) COUNTRY:
8.) PHONE 
9.) OCCUPATION:
10.) COMPANY:
11.) EMAIL ADDRESS:
12.) TICKET NUMBER:
13.) SERIAL NUMBER:
Congratulations once more, and keep trusting BMW Automobile for top quality
automobiles.

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