419 scam: "VW CO., LTD." <volkspromo@volkswagen.co.uk> New Year Message.

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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:
- "claims agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "fenncorrales_claims@live.hk" (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!
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.
- +447011172399 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "VW CO., LTD." <volkspromo@volkswagen.co.uk>
Reply-To: vweventclaims@live.de
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:38:15 +0300
Subject: New Year Message.

--
Volkswagen Motors Worldwide
Volkswagen Marketing
Yeomans Drive
Blakelands
Milton Keynes
MK14 5AN

Notification Date: 27/1/2011

It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but
please find time to read it carefully as we are officially announcing to
you the result of VW Motors E-Mail Award Promotion held on the 1st of Jan.
2011 as part of our International new year online Promotion Program. Your
email was attached to reference number VJETTA-UK-VP896686-M4GA with draw
number P00VWJ which consequently won you in the 2nd category prize, your
email address was extracted from our electronic email extraction system
which randomly selected fifteen (15) email addresses of which your email
address was among one of the lucky winners. You have therefore been
approved for a payout of a total sum Â£850,000.00 GBP (EIGHT HUNDRED &
FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING).

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 out through our computerized Email Selection System
(ESS) which selects email from 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 Promo
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 acknowledgment of this
email).

Customer Service Unit
CONTRACTED AGENCY: FENN CORRALES & ASSOCIATES
CONTACT PERSON

Mr. Fenn Corrales
+44 701 117 2399
Email: fenncorrales_claims@live.hk
29-30 Leicester Square London
WC2H 7LA, UK
---------------------------

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 PHONE & MOBILE NUMBER:
8. EVER WON AN ONLINE PROMO?
9. MARITAL STATUS:

This program is promoted and sponsored by Microsoft, Emirates Airline and
the Shell Group and 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,
Mrs. Ellen Van Leuven
(Programs & Events).
Material Copyright Â© 2011 the VW Co. Ltd.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam