Giveaway scams

An unknown person wants to donate an object which they can no longer care or is no longer useful. Beware, this is a giveaway scam.

The example below is representative of this type of giveaway scam. This is a person you do not know who writes to alert you that they own a good, i.e. a motorhome, that they want to get rid of it. They contact you to ask if you are interested in receiving this vehicle in donation. That person gives you a motorhome for real !

Unfortunately this is what is called a giveaway scam. If you answer to this mail, the person will ask for your contact information or copies of ID documents. Then they will notify you that you have to first pay some unplanned fees (customs fees, administrative costs, transport costs, …). For this, they will ask you to send them the money for these supposedly expenses. In some case, they will ask you to send money to an intermediary (notary, Treasurer, …) who is nothing more than an accomplice.

If you do so, that person will no longer give signs of life and you will never see the promised motorhome. Worse, they may try to continue to extort you money by claiming other financial problems or other unexpected costs.

Just ignore these emails about goods giveaway.

Below the example we talked about

Hello
I send you this mail to tell you that I wish to donate my motorhome from 2007, because I have a myopia problem and my doctor advised me not to drive anymore.
While I don’t want it to remain in a garage I have decided to give it to a person who can take care of it.
I do not live in your country but in the one where I worked all my life as an entrepreneur and I am currently retired.
The motorhome is there also, so I would be happy to let it to a person who can ensure its export.
I send you attached a photo of the motorhome, give me a feedback if you are interested to receive more information, more photos and a copy of the registration card.