Did you know that Microsoft has a lottery? And that they give
away huge amounts of money to people simply for having "an active online email
account"? This is news to Microsoft, too. If you received an email from "Mrs. Basheera Abubakar"
(who appears to sign her name, "Carl A. Harrison") at "Bill Gates Lottery Award!!!" telling you that "your
email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to
contact "Mr. Owen Lasson" to collect your winnings, it is a
scam. Microsoft has never had any lottery (and we're pretty sure they never
will). Bill Gates has made that pretty clear. And, while we're on
the subject, Microsoft is not, does not, and will not ever send you to DisneyWorld. They
don't "test the internet", nor sponsor email lotteries to "promote use of the
internet", "to promote the use of email", nor "the use of computers
worldwide". Nor do they have lotteries to "promote MS Word" or "the launch
of Vista", Hotmail, or other products. No lottery selects winners "using a
database of email addresses", or "from websites worldwide", or from "our
computer ballot system".
The scammers may
change the names and details, but it is still a scam! Don't be an complete
imbecile!
Below is the example of the fake lottery scam claiming to
be from the "Bill Gates Lottery Award!!!".
FROM:
THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT, MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD LOTTERY UNITED KINGDOM.61-70
Southampton Row, Bloomsbury London United Kingdom WC1B 4AR.
REFERENCE NO: MSW-L/200-26937
WINNER NO: 5-17-34-37-40-46
ELECTRONIC EMAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION AWARD PRESENTATION CENTER: UNITED
KINGDOM
DEAR WINNER,
MICROSOFT CO-OPERATION
MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE A WINNER OF OUR
ANNUAL MS-WORLD LOTTO LOTTERY CONDUCTED IN AFRICA BEING THE HOST OF THE EVENT
FOR THIS PRESENT YEAR MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PROGRAMS HELD ON
1st JANARY 2008
YOUR PERSONAL E-MAIL ADDRESS OR COMPANY EMAIL WAS ATTACHED TO
JANUARY
MSWLL. WITH SERIAL NUMBER S/N-00168 DREW THE LUCKY NUMBERS 887-13-865-37-10-83,
AND CONSEQUENTLY WON IN THE FIRST LOTTERY CATEGORY. YOU HAVE THEREFORE BEEN
APPROVED FOR LUMP SUMS OF
$
2,000,000 (USD TWO MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS)
PAYABLE IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 THIS IS FROM TOTAL
PRIZE MONEY OF $ 50,000,000 USD, SHARED AMONG THE
TWENTY-FIVE (25) LUCKY
INTERNATIONAL WINNERS IN FIRST CATEGORY.
ALL
PARTICIPANTS WERE SELECTED FROM
WORLDWIDE
WEBSITES ESPECIALLY YAHOO
EMAIL THROUGH OUR MICROSOFT COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM 21,000 NAMES,
3,000 NAMES FROM EACH CONTINENT (CANADA, ASIA, AUSTRALIA, UNITED STATE, EUROPE,
MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND OCEANIA, AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL "E-MAIL"
PROMOTIONS PROGRAM, WHICH IS CONDUCTED ANNUALLY FOR OUR PROMINENT MS
-WORD USERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND TO
ENCOURAGE THE USE OF INTERNET AND COMPUTERS WORLDWIDE.
YOUR
FUND (CERTIFIED CHEQUE) HAS BEEN INSURED WITH YOUR REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 AND
WILL BE READY FOR DELIVERY. IT WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY ONE OF OUR CLAIM
AGENT IN EUROPE AND AFRICA
.
YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE USED IN ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH YOUR CLAIMS
OFFICER, PLEASE NOTE THAT, YOU ARE TO CONTACT YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER VIA EMAIL AS
WE ARE PROMOTING THE USE OF E-MAIL. ALSO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CALL HIM TO
CONFIRM YOUR WINNINGS AND GOVERNMENT TAX PAYMENT THAT IS ALL, AS HE WILL PROVIDE
YOU WITH THE NECESSARY DETAILS ON HOW TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE.
AS
PART OF OUR SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE TO QUOTE THIS SECURITY CODE
MSW/FEB/XX08
TO YOUR CLAIMING AGENT. THIS IS TO PREVENT SCAM .
Mr. Owen Lasson.
Tel: +447024084884
E-mail: owen_lasson3@yahoo.co.uk
CLAIMS AGENT.
REMEMBER, ALL PRIZE MONEY MUST BE CLAIMED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL FUNDS NOT
CLAIMED ON OR BEFORE THE FIXED DATE WILL BE RETURNED AS UNCLAIMED AND DONATED TO
CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN AFRICA.
NOTE: IN ORDER TO AVOID MISTAKES, PLEASE REMEMBER TO QUOTE YOUR REFERENCE AND
BATCH NUMBERS AND YOUR SECURITY CODE OF
MSW/FEB/XX08 IN
ALL CORRESPONDENCES WITH YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER. DO NOT REPLY ANY OTHER MAILS LIKE
THIS ON NET, AS THEY ARE A LOT OF SCAM ARTIST OUT THERE PRETENDING TO BE US. YOU
MAY SEE MAILS LIKE THIS DO NOT REPLY. DO CALL YOUR CLAIMS OFFICER MR. OWEN
LASSON IN LONDON AT
ONCE YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE SOME DETAILS TO ENABLE THE OFFICE PROCEED WITH
YOUR WINNING CERTIFICATE AND FILE KEEPING.
CONGRATULATIONS, ONCE MORE FROM THE ENTIRE MANAGEMENT AND STAFF OF MICROSOFT
CO-OPERATION TO ALL OUR LUCKY WINNERS THIS YEAR. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF
THIS PROMOTIONAL LOTTERY PROGRAM. OUR SPECIAL THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO BILL
GATES OF MICROSOFT AND ALL HIS ASSOCIATES FOR ALLEVIATING POVERTY ROUND THE
WORLD.
SINCERELY,
Mrs.
Basheera
Abubakar Mrs. Caro Smith
(Co-coordinator). (Secretary)
LOTTERY SPONSORS:
CHIEF SPONSORS;
MICROSOFT CORPORATION UK, MICROSOFT CORPORATION AFRICA,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION USA, MICROSOFT CORPORATION ASIA
.
Past
winners.
Endeavour to
email your claim agent with the required datas below :
1.FULL
NAMES:__________________________________
2.COUNTRY:_____________________________________________
3.SEX:_______________
4.AGE:________
5.OCCUPATION:___________________
6.TELEPHONE
NUMBER:_____________________
7.BATCH
NUMBER:____________________
8. WINNER
NUMBER: _____________
9.REF
NUMBER:_MSW-__________________________________
10. AMOUNT
WON:___________________________________________
11.YOUR
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS________________________________
