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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:
- ",000,000" (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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "info@bmwlottery.com" (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 Livina George" <info@meharfiresecuresystem.com>
Reply-To: info@bmwlottery.com
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2023 09:18:29 -0700
Subject: CONTACT BMW AGENT FOR YOUR PRIZE DELIVERY
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
615 North Main Street,Culpeper Virginia 22701 USA.
Attention: Dear Beneficiary
NOTE: If you received this message in your SPAM/JUNK folder, that is because of the restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider, we (BMW) urge you to treat it genuinely.
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a prize of a brand new BMW 7 Series (2023 Model) Car and a Check of $1,000,000.00 Million USD United State Dollars from international programs held January this year 2023 in the UNITED STATE OF AMERICA.
Please make contact with below details for clearance and fill the info below.
VERIFICATION FORM:
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 BMW:255125HGDY03/23.
Contact Email: info@bmwlottery.com
Note that you have to send an email and provide us with the above listed details as soon as possible so we can begin with the processing of your winning Prize.
Mrs Larita Johnson
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THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS
BMW LOTTERY DEPARTMENT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Anti-fraud resources:
