Lottery scam quick guide: it's a scam if...

  • you win any lottery where you didn't buy a ticket! It's really that easy! It's not just too good to be true: it's bait in a trap!
  • you receive a generous grant out of the blue. Sadly (but not surprisingly) there aren't any benevolent people regularly throwing around millions of pounds/dollars/euros to randomly chosen people. This is just the lottery scam without the ticket.
  • they send you partial payment in the form of a cheque, money order, or direct bank transfer and want you to pay them fees out of that money. They're playing you for a sucker: cheques are frequently forged, and direct transfers made by compromising some poor schmuck's online banking service. You'll wind up a victim of fraud, or a party to it.
  • they want you to send them any money of any sort for any reason. They might try to say there are courier fees or taxes to cover. They're lying. Call their bluff and tell them to take the fees out themselves -- they'll never ever agree, because they can't defraud you unless money is making the reverse trip from you to them somehow.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

ACKNOWLEDGED

From: uk_sweepstakes@virgilio.it <uk_sweepstakes@virgilio.it>
Date: 04-Jul-2006 02:46
Subject: ACKNOWLEDGED

ACKNOWLEDGED

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM.
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS.
BRITISH GAMING/WINNING BOARD.
UNITED KINGDOM.
Ref:
NL/25888S/W4/68
Batch: 574/57/DW739

Dear winner,

RESULT OF CATEGORY "B"
We are
pleased to notify you of the release today as dated of the UK National
Sweepstakes/International Promotions programs held on the 1st day of
June 2006. Participants were selected through a computer ballot system
drawn from 98,000 names from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New
Zealand, Middle-East, Africa, and North & South America as part of our
international promotions program conducted annually to encourage
prospective overseas entries. We hope with part of your prize awards,
you will take part in our end of year £1.3 Billion International
Program. This promotional program was designed to introduce to the
United Kingdom visitors consumers a special benefit to save you
thousands of pounds on purchases ranging from everyday name brand
groceries to travel and entertainment.

The result of our computer
draw of this day reveals your names attached to Ticket Number 11476886
with serial number 178 drew the lucky number 32-35-39-42-44 which
consequently won the prize awards in the 2nd category.

Therefore, you
have been approved a lump sum prize awards winning of £3,810,000 (Three
Million, Eight Hundred and Ten Pounds Only) in cash prize credited to
file Ref. No: BL3/200345/07. This is from the total prize of £21,286,
320.00 (Twenty One Million, Two Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand, Three
Hundred and Twenty Pounds) shared among the Eighteen overseas lucky
winners in this category as part of our promotional program for this
year 2006.

Your prize award has been insured in your names and ready
for claim. To begin your claims therefore, you are advised on final
notice and as a matter of urgency, to contact our licensed and
accredited claim agent for overseas lucky Winners for the processing of
your prize awards winning and payment to your designated bank account.

Agent: Mark Johnson (Mr.)
Tel: +44 790 318 2180
Email:
royalallianceuk@netscape.net

On a final note, you are advised to begin
your claim immediately hence, all prizes awards must be claimed and
disbursed within 30 days of this notification as elapse of the
scheduled "End of Claim" date will authorized funds withholding for
redirection as abandoned/ unclaimed without notice.

Note: To enhance
the processing of your claim by our accredited claim agent, you are
advised to officially introduce yourself to the claim agent and also
provide them with your valid means of your personal identification with
a copy of this awards notification for references.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Noland Delnado
Promotions Director.

No comments: