There have been a couple of scams circulating around on the Internet recently, which are worth a warning. This is one of them.
I received an e-mail recently advising me I had won a great deal of money on the UK International Lotto, and instructions on how to obtain my winnings. Our young lad was first to open the e-mail, having sorted through the incoming mails. We can get an enormous amount of mail through our mailbox, as we are members of several mailing lists, including our own Crypt mailing list, of course.
He finally got my attention when he asked how much US$2,500,000 amounted to in UK sterling. When I queried why he wished to know, he told me that's how much I had won on this lotto. A quick double take and he insisted I read the mail.
How gullible you are depends on your age and circumstances. He was taken in, hook, line and sinker, but then, he is only 11. I'm much older, and have the experience of the "life of hard knocks", and explained one of my adages. "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is".
He was all for responding, but was finally persuaded to wait until I had investigated further. I had applied for nothing, anywhere. I am careful when accepting cookies when on-line, only doing so when it is absolutely necessary, so the e-mail address does not get spammed often.
This e-mail had all the hall-marks of spam about it, but it did intrigue me. The header showed around 50 e-mail addresses around the world, all beginning with the same letter of the alphabet as mine, indicating some sort of address trawling had taken place.
Just to be on the safe side, I did an Internet search on international lotteries which threw up a huge selection of sites, some genuine and some questionable. Then I spotted one which mentioned a scam and followed the links. Once reading through the pages, I spotted the address for the claim which I had received. It was the same address, a different name but enough of a coincidence to prompt a further read.
Apparently, once you contact them, they will send a form for you to fill in with details of your bank account and a request for varying amounts circa 5,000 Euros to enable you to obtain your "winnings".
If you receive one of these mails - DO NOT REPLY OR FILL IN ANY FORMS OR SEND ANY MONEY.
You will never see any "winnings" or your money again. In the worst scenario, your bank account will be "milked", leaving you seriously out of pocket.
The e-mail I received looks like this:
WINNING NOTICE FOR CATEGORY B WINNER:
KP6821873DL
It is our pleasure to inform you that you have emerged as a Category "B" winner of the UK International Lotto. CONGRATULATIONS! You are entitled to a prize sum of US$2,500,000.00. Reference number for your prize is KP6821873DL, ticket number A/03-4912.
As a category B winner, you have been selected from a total number of 25,000 names drawn from Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East and America. After the computer ballot of our International Promotions Program, only six winners emerged in the category and therefore both are to receive payouts of US$2,500,000.00 from the total US$15,000,000.00 for second category winners.
To immediately collect your prize, please contact our Category "B" financial handlers with information below:
Mr. Carl Gareth
Financial Director
International Contracting Company Ltd
76 New Fetter Lane
London, EC4A 1AG
TELEPHONE: +44 7092009646, 008821652070052
FAX: + 44 7092009621
Email:carlgareth6@internationalcontractingcompanyltd.net
Provide prize reference number-KP6821873DL and winning ticket number-A/03-4912 for confirmation. In your best interests, you must initiate contact within one week of receipt of this correspondence. International Contracting Company Ltd will handle all matters with regards to claiming your prize. You are also advised to send a copy of this email,either by fax or email, to your financial handler Mr. Carl Gareth,when contacting him.
You are to keep all lottery information from the public as we will not entertain cases of multiple claims processing or compromise the privacy and security for all winners.
Other necessary International Lotto Uk information are:
Draw 1 number: 01-11417
Draw 2 number: 02-7962
International Lottery code no: IL55008
You may be required to provide any of the above information during the process of collecting your prize.
We congratulate you once again and it is our hope that you participate in any of our international programs in the nearest future.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Burk J. Fellow
Promotions Manager
International Lotto UK
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This email was sent using http://mail.uk2.net
UK2.NET - UK's Biggest Host! - http://uk2.net
I followed the instructions on the Web page and forwarded it to the Police as requested. I can only encourage you to do the same, as I hope the other addressees will do.
More information from : http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/~wm/wm-lotto.html
Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.