Scam Alert! – Fake Azim Premji Foundation 1.5M Euro Lottery Email

Reviewed by ScamReporting Editorial · Editorial standards

Reported July 2026 – A German-language inbox sample claimed the reader was a “lucky winner” of 1,500,000 euro from the Azim Hashim Premji Foundation and told them to contact “Herr Rajesh Rauch” at a free Gmail address.

Quick answer

That message is a scam. You did not enter a Premji Foundation lottery, and no real foundation awards 1.5 million euro through an unsolicited email ending in @gmail.com. Delete it. Do not reply, call, wire money, buy gift cards, or send ID photos. If you already replied, paste the email into our Scamil Email Checker and read the full lottery and inheritance scam warning signs.

What the email said (anonymized sample)

Sie wurden als einer der glucklichen Gewinner von 1.500.000 euro der Azim Hashim Premji Foundation ausgewahlt. Fur weitere Informationen kontaktieren Sie bitte Herrn Rajesh Rauch unter: (azimpremjifoundation0034@gmail.com).

English translation: “You have been selected as one of the lucky winners of 1,500,000 euro from the Azim Hashim Premji Foundation. For further information please contact Mr. Rajesh Rauch at: (azimpremjifoundation0034@gmail.com).”

Note the packed red flags: unsolicited windfall, celebrity/foundation branding, a personal “contact officer,” and a free-mail address that only looks official because the username includes the foundation’s name plus random digits.

How this scam works

1. Unsolicited “winner” notice. You never entered a draw. The crooks pick inboxes at random (often in German, English, Spanish, or French) so the prize sounds local while the story stays floating overseas.
2. Trust hijack. They borrow the name of a well-known Indian philanthropic organisation – the Azim Premji Foundation – so the first skim feels “important.” Impersonation of charities and foundations is a long-running advance-fee pattern, not a grant process.
3. Personal contact trap. Instead of an official .org contact form, they push a named handler (“Rajesh Rauch”) on Gmail. That private channel is where pressure, fake documents, and fee demands land.
4. Advance fee / data harvest. Typical next emails ask for passport scans, bank details “to credit the prize,” a “tax clearance,” “anti-terrorism fee,” “insurance,” or courier cost – all paid by you. There is no prize waiting on the other side.
5. Follow-on recovery scams. If someone pays once, a second crew may later pose as lawyers or “investigators” offering to get the money back – for another fee. See our recovery room scam guide.

Red Flags

• Huge prize (1,500,000 euro) for a lottery or foundation raffle you never entered
• Contact email is Gmail (or another free provider), not the organisation’s real domain
• Foundation/charity name used to sell credibility – but no verifiable award process
• Named “officer” or middleman who only communicates privately by email or chat
• Pressure to reply quickly, keep the win confidential, or pay a fee before funds “release”
• Request for passport, bank IBAN, or signed forms before any money moves to you

What to do

• Do not reply to the Gmail address or any follow-up that arrives after a bounce.
• Do not pay taxes, courier fees, “insurance,” crypto, or gift cards to release a prize.
• Mark as phishing / junk in your mail client and block the sender.
• Scan the text with Scamil (email-focused) or Scam Checker if you also received SMS.
• Report it: in the U.S., use ReportFraud.ftc.gov; in Germany, report fraud attempts to local police and, where relevant, the BSI / consumer centres. Also file at our Report a Scam page.
• If you already shared ID or paid: contact your bank, freeze affected cards, place fraud alerts, and review steps on Get Help. Guaranteed recovery is a myth – beware anyone who promises it.

Why the “Azim Premji Foundation” angle is a tell

Advanced fee criminals routinely abuse brand recognition. A real charitable foundation that makes education or development grants does not randomly select consumer email addresses as million-euro lottery winners, and it will not ask the public to coordinate prizes with a Gmail clerk named in the first message. Search the organisation’s official website yourself (never trust links or addresses inside the spam) and you will not find a consumer lottery matching this email.

The German wording is deliberate: many of these campaigns are mass-translated. Grammar can look passable while the underlying script stays identical worldwide – “lucky winner,” round euro amount, named agent, free email.

Reminder: ScamReporting.org is an independent awareness platform – not law enforcement, not the Azim Premji Foundation, and not a claims agency. This guide is educational only and is not legal or financial advice. If you lost money or shared sensitive data, see recovery steps and consult professionals as needed. Editorial standards: Editorial Policy.

Related July 2026 alert: Fake orphan inheritance email (Barbara Cole script) – claimed UK teen, 50% cut, Gmail contact, classic advance-fee pattern.