419 scam: "Volkswagen MOTORS WORLDWIDE LTD"<info@vm.org> Internet User Encouragement Promotions !

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million pounds" (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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "promoffer2u@gmx.com" (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: "Volkswagen MOTORS WORLDWIDE LTD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <promoffer2u@gmx.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 23:58:15 -0000
Subject: Internet User Encouragement Promotions !

Volkswagen MOTORS WORLDWIDE LTD.
Internet User Encouragement Promotions
VW Motors
Manchester/Malaysia.

We are officially announcing to you the result of VW Motors Email Lottery Promotion held
on the 30th day of Dec. 2010 as part of our programs to Launch our multi million dollar
office that was commissioned on 5th of January 2011 in Malaysia and Manchester United
Kingdom. Your email was attached to ticket number VJETTA-UK-VP990003-M4GA with draw
number P93VWJ which consequently won you in the 2nd category prize, your email address
was extracted from our electronic email extraction system which randomly selected Fifthteen
(15) Lucky Winners of which your email address was among one of the lucky winner.You have
therefore been approved for a payout of a total sum 850,000 GBP (EIGHT HUNDRED & FIFTY
THOUSAND POUNDS).

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We also advise that you keep your winning information very confidential as our security
policy demands to avoid double claims/impersonation and unwarranted abuse of this
program by some individuals. The selection process was carried our through our computerized
Email Selection System (ESS) which selects emailfrom a database of over 600,000 email
address was drawn from all over the continents of the World.
This promotions being the first of its kind will now take place annually and we hope you will
also take part in our next year One Million Pounds Sterling International Lottery Game. To file
your claim, you are to contact our Customer Service Unit authorized to conduct the necessary
Verification to enable you receive your Cash Prize.(You will receive more email upon
acknowledgement of this email).

**********************************************
ASIA CLIENT CONTACT PERSON
**********************************************
Mr. Raja Omar Kumar
Tel: +60102034769
Email: promoffer2u@gmx.com

======================================================================================
You are to call your claims agent assigned for your claims, or send an email to them, you are
to provide to your agents the below under listed information as soon as possible:
**************************************************************************************
1. NAME IN FULL:
2. ADDRESS (IN FULL):
3. NATIONALITY:
4. AGE:
5. SEX:
6. OCCUPATION (POSITION HELD):
7. HOME/MOBILE & FAX NUMBER:
======================================================================================
This program is promoted and sponsored by Microsoft,Emirates Airline and the Shell Group a
nd we intend to use this medium to help individuals generate fortunes, which would encourage
them to expand their business frontiers thereby creating more opportunities and assisting with
humanitarian Concerns within their immediate environment. All winning must be claimed not later
than one Week of Acknowledgment.
After this date all unclaimed funds will be returned to VW Motors Treasury as Unclaimed.

Yours in service,
Roberto Rene Salmon

(Programs & Events).
Material Copyright © 2011 The VW Co. Ltd.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam