Have you received an email from "Farrow Smith" at "GoogleUK Cash Give-Aways" saying you won
their promotion or lottery promo and to contact "Mr.Stanford Walters of Swift Express Service Couriers" to collect your winnings?
Wow! So, now Google is just giving away money, at pure
random to "web searchers" so they can "test email".
Ok, we don't want to sound condescending... but if you fell
for this scam, perhaps you shouldn't have a bank
account or credit card; this level of gullibility means you're quite likely to get scammed
frequently.
And don't get too excited if the names are different; the scammers
make many versions of this scam! This one is so full of crap, we could shred it
and offer it as fertilizer.
It is actually a very simple scam. They claim you won a
promotion, which is giving away millions of dollars based on a randomly selected
email address. The scam is obvious: it's simply preposterous to think that
any company would give money away randomly to encourage you to buy their product. That would be
pointless and self-defeating.
Although the most important clue is that no legitimate lottery,
and almost no legitimate sweepstakes or promotions will email a winner, there are many other signs that this is a fraud.
We have
highlighted some of the more
ridiculous claims in the email below, not the least
of which are:
It is a typical scam promotion sweepstakes winning notification. Also
see these pages:
From: Online Processing Agent
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 10:47 PM
Subject: Claims Processing Update 09/03/2008 ( you
have been officially cleared and approved)
THE GoogleUK GIVE-AWAYS TEAM.
Google UK,North London Business Park (NLBP) Oakleigh
Road South , London N11 1NP
TEL:+44 703 196 7682,+44 703 195 8488
Fax:+44 700 597 8372 .
Dear Googler,
Your email was received and duly acknowledged.
I am Farrow Smith, the Give-Aways Processing Agent
assigned for the claim process of your funds.Google has successfully
organized for the second time a Cash Give-Aways marking her 10th
anniversary. Over £20,000, 000.00 (Twenty Million British pounds) are
to be
given out for this Anniversary Draws.
Participants for the draws were
randomly selected from a wide range of web searchers who use the Google
search engine (Googlers) and other Google ancillary services.
Google is now the biggest search engine worldwide
and in an effort to make sure that it remains the most widely used search
engine, Google is running an e-mail beta test. Your email address was linked
with our Computer Generated Profile Numbers (CGPN) and attached to the
following details: Ticket number: 008695757Mr.Stanford Walters of Swift Express Service Couriersxx / Serial numbers: / BTD/807044Mr.Stanford Walters of Swift Express Service CouriersX/06
/ Lucky numbers: 12-12-23-35-XX-XX(XX) / (CGPN)7-22-71-XX-XX-XX was picked
among our lucky winners to receive £500, 000.00 British pounds.
Winners were selected randomly through a
computer
ballot system from worldwide users of the Google search engine.On Behalf of
the Screening Committee of Google promo TEAM, you are therefore cleared as
approved Official beneficiary of £500, 000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand
British Pounds) only.You are to come in person to the Disbursements Center
of the Google GIVE-AWAYS BOARD with the following requirements:
(a) A printed copy of your WINNING NOTIFICATION
(b) A tax clearance from your local tax office
(c) An Affidavit of age Declaration
(d)police report attesting your patrotism and crime
free citizen of your Country
(Note: You are only required to present the above
documents only when you are coming down to UK)
In receipt of these requirements your winning
cheque will be made available to you after 24hrs as the Cheque will be made
in your name and presented to you as soon as you arrive our office.
NB: Inability to meet up with the stipulated dates
given due to non availability of some requirements, non-availability of
travel documents may result in loss of winnings as funds will be re-used for
other next edition.
To prevent this from happening, you can contact :
MR. STANFORD WALTERS, Of SWIFT EXPRESS SERVICE affiliated with the Google
GIVE-AWAYS Board for assistance in claiming your winnings without you coming
down to U.K., He will help you to facilitate your claims and Forward your
winnings to you before the next promo edition.
However, Your winnings have been forwarded to the
COURIER DEPARTMENT for disbursement. Therefore you are to contact the
courier officer within 24 hours from now with your complete datas.
Fill and forward a copy of your Verification/payment
form to the below mentioned Courier Company.Endeavour to send along a valid
identity proof( drivers licence or passport) to prove your Identity.
CLAIM'S VERIFICATION/PAYMENT FORM
1.FIRST/LAST NAMES:
2.HOME ADDRESS/SEX/AGE:
3.OCCUPATION/TELEPHONE NUMBER/MOBILE:
4.STATE/COUNTRY:
5.PRESENT ADDRESS:
6.Ticket number/Serial numbers:
7.Luckynumbers/(CGPN):
8:Email address(1):______ Email address(2):
****************************** ***************
COURIER DISPATCH OFFICE CONTACT INFO.
Mr.Stanford Walters (Dispatch Officer)
Hotline:+44 703 193 0187
Fax :+44 870 479 1652
Email:>dispatchoffice@swift-exp.co.uk
****************************** *************** YOU
MUST CALL THE HELP DESK OF SWIFT EXPRESS COURIER SERVICE AFTER SENDING EMAIL
TO ENABLE THEM GIVE YOU URGENT ATTENTION.
Also be inform that the services(delivery) that will
be rendered to you by the Courier Company will be handled by you the Winner
and not the Lottery Board if you are unable to visit us personally. This
means you will have to adhere to all instructions from this company on how
to finalise the final process.
Regards
Mr. Farrow Smith
PROCESSING AGENT 2008
