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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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- +447017901028 (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.
- bmwautoclaims4d@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "BMW AUTOMOBILE PROMO" <info@notice.com>
Reply-To: bmwautoclaims4d@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 12:43:03 +0100
Subject: Your Email Was Selected!!!
BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY LTD, UK.
22 Garden Close, Stamford
Lice PE92yP, London.
United Kingdom.
Dear Email-User
It is the begining of another successful business year for us which is why
we at BMW AUTOMOBILE Global office likes to officially congratulate you for the
draw that was held by our company which featured you as the second place winner
of our promotion.Your email address with MICROS ID ( BMW-B7D8-B2K-MPNC-2NJ )
was luckily drawn to be this year's winner of a BMW 5 Series Saloon Car and a
cash prize of £450,000.00 GBP. This money and gift we believe will enable you
make some impact in the society.
Please confirm your status by sending the below information's for verification:
FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS/PHONE NUMBER:
COUNTRY:
STATE:
OCCUPATION:
NATIONALITY:
The above informations should be sent to Dr. Brian Williams via email for
verification before your prize can be approved.
AGENT NAME : DR. BRIAN WILLIAMS
EMAIL ADDRESS: bmwautoclaims4d@hotmail.com
TELL: +44 701 7901028
Sign,
Mrs. Juan Phill.
Online Promo Co-ordinator.
Bmw Company Uk.
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Anti-fraud resources:
