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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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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.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• The following fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
  • "the bmw automobile company" (no such lottery exists)
• 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: "BMW Company Awards" <info@bmw.org.uk>
Reply-To: bmwgroup069@live.com
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:59:23 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: YOUR BMW 2009 AWARD!!


BMW HQ Germany Plant:Heidemannstr. 164 DE-80939 MUNCHEN Germany.
From:THE BMW (UK) Ltd Registered Office:
Ellesfield Avenue, Bracknell,
Berkshire, RG12 8TA.
United Kingdom.

Congratulations,
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 year's BMW Automobile International Awareness Promotion
(IAP) held on Friday 10th of July,2009 in Berkshire.

This makes you the proud owner of a brand new BMW 7 Series,730d Sports
Saloon car and a cash prize of 750,000.00 GBPs (Seven Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Great British pounds).

In order to redeem your prizes contact Mr.Thomas Peters R ,Bmw Claims
Manager of the Claims Department with the verification form below duely
Filled and sent through email to:
Mr.Thomas Peters R,
DIRECT EMAIL:bmwgroup069@live.com
Tel:+44(0) 7031925534.

VERIFICATION FORM:
1.)Full Name: 2.)Current Address: 3.)Country: 4.)Age: 5.)Sex:
6.)Occupation: 7.)Phone Number: 8.)REFERENCE NUMBER:BMW:25515600DS

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam