Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Have you received an email from "Mr. Anthony Campbell" at the "BRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL" telling you that you won the a prize and to contact "Mr Powell Paul"? It is a scam.
There are only two legal large lotteries in Britain, the National Lottery and the Monday Lottery, anyway, and they do NOT use email to notify winners. Below is a scam email actually received.
DO NOT reply to any emails you receive that claim you have won a lottery that you did not enter. They are frauds. You will lose your money. There is no "free lunch"; don't be foolish and believe a scam! We can not say it any more plainly: YOU WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL BY ANY LEGITIMATE LOTTERY THAT YOU WON A PRIZE. If you do receive such an email, it IS a fraud, do not reply to it! If you DID reply to one, see this page to find out what happens next!
Other resources:
Also
In the UK, call the hotline at 020 7211 8111 to check or report lottery scams.
There are many other signs that this is a fraud that we have highlighted in the email below, typically including one or more of these:
Email address ballot: There is no such thing as a "computer ballot system" or "computer email draw". No one, not even Microsoft has a database of email addresses of the type or magnitude they suggest.
Terrible spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar - Scammers apparently don't know how to use spell checkers. We assume they dropped out of school before that class. They use almost random CapItaLiZAtion and often can't even spell "February" or know that "22th" ought to be "22nd". Real lotteries proofread their emails and use people who can write above the 3rd grade level.
Using free email account: The scammer is writing to you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Excite, AIM, Gmail, etc.). Don't you think a real organization would use its own email, its own domain and website?
Keep Confidential - Real lotteries THRIVE on publicity - they don't want you to keep anything secret - the publicity causes people to buy more tickets. there is NO risk of "double claiming" because they can validate where the ticket numbers were sold. The scammer want you to keep quiet because they don't want the police or ConsumerFraudreporting to hear about them!
Email notification: NO REAL LOTTERY SENDS AN EMAIL TO NOTIFY WINNERS. Period. Full-stop. End of story. There mere fact ALONE that you received an email saying you won a lottery is proof that it is a scam.
Courier / delivery charges are high due to Hardcover insurance Policy - If you respond to them, you will usually receive an email telling you you must pay delivery charges. First, as we mentioned earlier, no winner would ever have to pay delivery charges in a real lottery, sweepstakes or promotion. Secondly, there is no such thing as "hardcover insurance policies" . Go search in Google and see if you can find a definition for it!
Here is a typical scam lottery winning notification.
From: BRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL. <websender12@bellsouth.net>
Date: 4.4.2007 18:02
Subject: BRITISH LOTTERY EASTER BONANZA!!!
To: info@britishlottery.co.ukBRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
PROMOTIONS/ PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT.
60 Merriman Road
Blackheath
London SE3 8RZ
EnglandCUSTOMER SERVICE
Ref. Number: BTL/491OXI/04
Batch Number: 12/25/0304
Ticket Number: 564 75600545-188
Serial Number: 5388/0204/04/07
Attn: Winner,
ONLINE NOTIFICATION OF WINNING
BRITISH LOTTERY, officially bring to your notice the final draw result of 2007 BRITISH LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL EASTER BONANZA -wheel E-game which was conducted at our international corporate office complex in The United Kingdom.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 56475600545-188 with serial number 5388/02 drew lucky numbers 7-14-18-31-45, which consequently won in the 1ST category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of 1,000,000.00Pounds (ONE MILLION POUNDS STERLING).CONGRATULATIONS!
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from which your Email was selected.
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been fully processed and your money remitted to you.This is part of our security protocol to avoid multiple claims and unwarranted abuse of this program by some members of the public.
For the release of your winning, kindly contact your claims officer at the The National Lottery Head Quarters via bellow informations:
Mr Powell Paul
Payment and Release Order Dept.
Phone: +(44)-701-1129-582
+(44)-702- 4078-345
Fax : +(44) 870-0682-087
E-mail: claims_britishlottery05@yahoo.co.uk
Furthermore, should there be any change in your address, do inform your Claims officer as soon as possible.Complete the form below and send it to the claims officer vian email:
Full name:........................................................
Date of birth:.....................................................
Sex:..............................................................
Marital status:.................................................
Email:.............................................................
Occupation:......................................................
Nationality:...................................................
Lotto Batch Number:......................................
Lotto Reference Numbers:............................
phone Number:................................................
Address:...........................................................
Country of Residence:...................................
Select mode of collection of winning prize:
(1) ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFER(BANK TO BANK TRANSFER)
(2) COURIER DELIVERY(CERTIFIED CHEQUE MADE OUT IN YOUR NAME DELIVERED TO YOU VIA OUR AFFILIATE COURIER COMPANY)
Upon completion of the above form,you will be directed to contact the courier company or paying bank in charge of transfer of winning funds to winners
Congratulations once again from all members of our staff and thanks for being part of our promotions program.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Anthony Campbell,
Executive (International Sweepstakes).
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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