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 "Mrs. Mariam Roosje -Hoo" at "NATIONALE POSTCODE LOTERIJ Promotion" telling you that "your email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to contact "Mr.Albert Van Smith" to collect your winnings? It is a scam. No legitimate, legal lottery notifies winners vian email (see footnote) The scammers may change the names and details, but it is still a scam!
Below is the example of the fake email scam (the email is the scam, not any persons or companies named in the email) claiming to be from the "NATIONALE POSTCODE LOTERIJ Promotion".
Although the most important clue is that no legitimate lottery will ever email a winner, there are many other signs that this is a fraud. Even the use of obscure words ("parastatals" - A company or agency owned or controlled wholly or partly by the government) doesn't make it less of a scam. 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.
"No tickets were sold": You care to explain where the money comes from? Perhaps the lottery money fairy? Why would a lottery give away money to "email address randomly selected by a computer ballot draw system"? This is CLEARLY nonsense: you MUST, repeat MUST buy a ticket to have a chance of winning any lottery!
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. Real lotteries also proofread their emails and look and read more professional.
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 it's own email, it's 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! It should read: "For our own security, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until we have finished scamming you!"
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.
Here is a typical scam lottery winning notification.
AWARD NOTICE
POSTCODE LOTERIJ NL.
RESULTS FOR CATEGORY 'B' DRAWS
Ticket Number: NL/BC336791/HY07.
In view of the yearly sweepstake of the above named organization held recently we are pleased to inform you that your e-mail address attached to the above ticket Number:NL/BC336791/HY07,Prized Number: 2941XG and Lucky number 5256JA, came up in the second dip. This invariably means that you have emerged as the prize winner of the sum of €850,000.00 Euros{Eight Hundred and fifty Thousand Euros} in the second category.
Be informed that all participants were selected from a random computing ballot system.This charitable sweepstake is sponsored by postcdeloterij.nl, several Multi-National Corporations and some government parastatals. It is in your best interest and to avoid mix up of numbers and names of any kind that we request you keep the entire details of your winning strictly from public notice until the process of transferring your claims has been completed,and your funds remitted to your account.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claims and unscrupulous acts by participants/ non participants of this program.
To claim your winning,you should send to us the following informations:-
1 Full Names:-
2 Address
3 Nationality{Your country of Origin}-
4 Age:-
5 Occupation:-
6 Telephone numbers
Please send the above information STRICTLY to our Processing Officer on this E-Mail address as stated here with:-
Mr.Albert Van Smith,
Remittance Department Director,
E-mail: avsmithnatpost@aim.com
Congratulations once again from management and staff of this company,and thanking you for being a lucky winner of our promotions program.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mariam Roosje -Hoo
NATIONALE POSTCODE LOTERIJ Promotion
www.postcodeloterij.nl
Holland-Netherlands{Europe}
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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