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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:
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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.NATTA MILLER" <musaocholi3@gmail.com>
Reply-To: john_collins@aliyun.com
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2023 10:57:30 +0100
Subject: BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
600 Q STREET
LINCOLN NEBRASKA 68508
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Email: john_collins@aliyun.com
Dear Winner.
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a
brand new 2023 Model BMW 8 Series Car, a
Cheque of $3.5 Million USD from the international balloting programs
held on the 1st section of the 2023 annual award promo in the
UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
The selection process was carried out through a random computerized
email selection system (ESS) from a database of over 250,000
email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world, which your
email address was 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 claim, You are to contact our
fiduciary claim department for more information as regards to
the procedures on the claim of your prize.
Name: Mr.JOHN COLLINS
Email: john_collins@aliyun.com
Contact him by providing him with your secret pin code Number
BMW:2541256004/25. You are also advised to provide him
with the under listed information as soon as possible:
1. Name In Full:
2. Residential Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age :
5. Occupation :
6. Direct Phone ..
7. Present Country:
8. Email address ..
9. pin code Number:
MRS.NATTA MILLER
THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
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Anti-fraud resources: