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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "james.douglas@cyberia.pl" (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:
- 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!
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs. Maria Hernandez <m.hernandez@bmw.uk>
Reply-To: james.douglas@cyberia.pl
Date: 13 May 2020 17:59:57 -0300
Subject: GOODNEWS FROM BAVARIAN MOTOR WORKS (BMW)
Congratulations,
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a new 2019
BMW M2 Series Car and a Check for $ 1,500,000.00usd from the
international programs held on the last section 2019/ first
Section of 2020 in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The selection process was carried out through random selection in
our computerized email selection system (ESS) from a database of
over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all continents of the
world which you were selected.
The BMW Lottery is approved by the British 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 department formore information as regards
procedures to claim your prize.
Contact Name: James Earl Douglas
Email:james.douglas@cyberia.pl
Contact him by providing him with your secret pin code BMW
Number:4661236611/20. You are also advised to provide him with
the under listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name in full.
2. Address.
3. Nationality.
4. Age.
5.Occupation.
6. Phone / Fax.
7. Present Country.
8. Email address
9. pin code Number
Note that all winnings MUST be claimed by a STIPULATED TIME (ON
OR BEFORE 20th July 2020) otherwise all funds will be returned
unclaimed and eventually be reabsorbed into our next lucky dip
sweepstakes.
Mrs. Maria Hernandez
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
EUROPE / ASIA AND AMERICA.
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Anti-fraud resources:
