joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Joseph Mark Crawford" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barristerjosephmark@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 22:19:00 -0500
Subject: Dear BMW Enthusiast,

 
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
5070 WILSHIRE BLVD
LOS ANGELES. CA 90036
NEIGHORHOOD: MID WILSHIRE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
  Dear BMW Enthusiast,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a brand new 2016/2017 Model BMW 7 Series Car,
Cash prize Certified Check of $1.500,000.00 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United State Dollars)
and a Apple Laptop  from the international balloting programs held on the 2nd section in the UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
Description of prize vehicle;
Model: 760Li
Color (exterior): Metallic Silver
Mileage: 5
Transmission: Automatic 8 Speed
Options: Cold weather package, premium package,fold down rear seats w/ski bag,
am fm stereo with single in dash compact disc player.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection ballot system,
from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world which yours and nine others were selected as the winners.
The BMW Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by the the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR).
This promotional lottery is the 3rd of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.
To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduciary claims department for more information as regards procedures to claim your prize.
FIDUCIARY CLAIMS AGENT.
Name: Mr. Joseph Mark Crawford
Email: barristerjosephmark@gmail.com
Contact him by providing him with your secret pin code BMW:6743222009/FQ13.
As the subject of your email for swift response and you are also advised to provide him with the under listed information as soon as possible for your claim:
* Name in full.
* Address.
* Nationality.
* Age.
* Occupation.
* Phone.
* Fax #.
* Present Country.
* Email address.
* Batch Number BMW:
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
***********************************************************************************************************************************
NOTE: If you received this message in your SPAM/BULK folder ,
that is because of the restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider,
we (BMW) urge you to treat it genuinely and kindly move it to your inbox.
 

Anti-fraud resources: