Have you received an email from "Shell Group International" at "Royal Dutch Shell plc" saying you won
their promotion or lottery promo and to contact "EDWARD L. GUTI" to collect your winnings? It is a scam. And don't get too excited if the names are different; the scammers
make many versions of this scam!
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 these in the email below, not the least
of which are:
-
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 excessive and random CapItaLiZAtion.
They often can't even spell "February" or know that "22th" ought to
be "22nd". These scammers usually write at the 3rd grade level.
Being non-native English speakers, they also often get first names and
surnames (last names reversed), so you will frequently see names like "Mr.
SMITH JAMES.", instead of "Mr. James Smith", along with the peculiar usage
of periods (full stops) and spaces or the lack thereof.
-
Using free email account: The scammer is writing to
you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.). Don't you think a real organization
would use its own email, its own domain and website? Wouldn't they want to
promote that?
-
Keep Confidential - Real promotions THRIVE on
publicity: that's the purpose of them! They don't want you to keep anything secret - the publicity
causes people to buy their product. 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! It should read: "For our own security, you
are advised to keep your winning information confidential until we have
finished scamming you!"
-
What are they promoting? No one promotes "world
peace" or "use of the internet" by handing out millions to random strangers.
And if they are promoting a product or
a lottery, then
this must be the world's worst promotion, because no one has heard of it,
outside of the email you just received. Just giving away money to
random people who have an email address wouldn't promote a darn thing! It is
a scam!
-
Pay a fee to collect the prize: Nope, it is illegal
for free sweepstakes and promotions to charge you ANYTHING! Of course, in a
scam, that is the whole point: to get you to send money to the scammer.
It is a typical scam promotion sweepstakes winning notification. Also
see these pages:
From: "Royal Dutch Shell plc" <announcer@shell.co.uk>
Subject: You Have Won (Shell REF NO: HLP/200-26937)
Royal Dutch Shell plc.
SHELL GROUP INTERNATIONAL UK .
Shell Centre London
SE1 7NA.
(Registration 70339411).
REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT.
REF NO: HLP/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01
Attention: Winner,
We wish to heartily congratulate you on your
emergence as a 2008 SHELL GROUP AWARDS-INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS winner.
Your email which drew the winning number, of our
yearly cash give away Promotions, was selected via our Random Computer
Selection System
(RCSS) and attached to file reference number
(HLP/200-26937).
We write to hereby inform you that a prize of GBP
200,000.00 Pounds Sterling in cash are pending your redemption.
The verification department has already proceeded
with the verification process of your winnings. We would instruct you on how
to receive your prize money as soon as your claims have been verified.
To Proceed you are adviced to contact our paying
bank personnel to activate an account so your cheque will be cashed and
deposited at:
BANK NAME: Lloyds TSB Bank plc.
NEW ACCOUNTS DEPT.
ACCOUNT OFFICER: EDWARD L. GUTI.
TEL: 44-704-574-3971
EMAIL:
edward.guti@live.com
Kindest Regards,
Shell Group International ,
United Kingdom .
*******************************************************************************
CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE: This email message, including
any attachments, is intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s)
and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and prohibited
from unauthorized disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the
intended recipient of this message, any dissemination, distribution or
copying ofthis message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message
in error, please notify the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of
the original message.
*******************************************************************************
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