By or by means

Through (pretext)
(via, by means of) The
refrigerator was opened by means of a master key (how, by which)
Police officers seized robbers by means of an alert grandmother (note: not at the expense of grandmother's pension, but with her personal help)

By (not) means (preposition with the noun)
(Within (to beyond) one's's means)
Banks are not interested youth to live within your means (according to prosperity)
Russia beyond the means of its strategic ambitions (can not afford)

more often than not, you are likely to have in mind " by means of;)