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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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million dollars" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- 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.
- jamesmaybm@aol.com (AOL; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. BERNHARD KUHNT" <bmw@dohatec.com.bd> (may be fake)
Reply-To: jamesmaybm@aol.com
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2021 22:18:07 +0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION! You Won BMW Lottery Prize
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the BMW Lottery NL Winners
International programs held on the 27th of September 2021, Your email and
Mobile Numbers attached to ticket #: 00903228100 with prize # 788009 has
been selected as winner of a prize of a brand New 2021 BMW X2 M35i, xDrive
and a Check of $10,700,000.00 USD , The BMW Lottery was approved by the
United States Gaming Board and also Licensed by the International
Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). To begin the processing of your
prize you are to contact our fiduciary claims agent with code
BMW:2547756004/21 and your DELIVERY DETAILS (Your Full Name, Delivery
Address and Cell Number) to claim your prize.
The BMW X2 and sum check of $10.7 Million dollars Have Been approved
to be deliver to your address as soon as you contact him.
Contact Person Name: James May
E-mail address: jamesmaybm@aol.com
Call & Text or WhatsApp +1 (530) 334-6555
Note: It's your responsibility as a winner to facilitate the delivery
charge $100.00 of your grand price/winning to your destination. After the
provision
of the required listed information stated above then He shall the
fiduciary agent avail you with the details on how you get your winning.
Congratulations !!!!
REGARDS
MR. BERNHARD KUHNT
BMW DIRECTOR
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