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 "Dennis White" at "SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY" telling you that "your email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to contact "ARTHUR BANNETT" to collect your winnings? It is a scam. Since when does a promotion include a statement like "any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification." The whol epoint of any promotion IS publicity.
Below is another example of a fake lottery; this email claims to be from the "SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY".
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. 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. 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 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! 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.
Dear Winner,
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY,
HEADQUARTERS: 10 NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE , LONDON WC2N 5BX , THE UNITED KINGDOM.REF: OYL/25041238013/02
BATCH: 24/00319/IPDATTENTION: RE/ AWARD NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today, 4th,April, 2007 of Winners of the SWEETWIN PROMO LOTTERY, UNITED KINGDOM / INTERNATIONAL, PROGRAMS held on 23rd , March 2007.
Your e-mail address is attached to ticket number: 023-0148-790-459, with serial number 5073-11 drew the lucky numbers 43-11-44-37-10-43, which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd category.It is our pleasure to inform you that you have emerged as a Category "B" winner of the SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of Five Million, Five Hundred Thousand-America Dollars You have therefore been approved for lump sum pay Out of US$5,500.000.00 Million in cash credited to file REF NO.OYL/25041238013/02. This is from total prize Money Of US$80,400,000.00 shared among the seventeen International winners in this category. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as contained in your file.
In view of this, the Certified Bank Check of your Five Million, Five Hundred Thousand-America Dollars ($US5, 500.000.00) would be released to you by our security firm in London , United Kingdom . Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds as soon as you contact him.
As a category "B" winner, all participants for the free online lotto version were selected randomly from World Wide Web site through the computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 names / companies from Africa, Australia, New Zealand, America, Europe, North America and Asia as Part of International Promotions Program, which is Conducted Bi-Annually. After the computer ballot of our International Promotions Program, only first seventeen- (17) lucky winners emerged in this category.
This lottery program was organized by our group of philanthropist promoted and sponsored by Mr. Bill Gates of Microsoft Inc, eminent personalities like the Sultan of Brunei, Multi Choice and other corporate Organizations. This lottery program was organized to improve the use of computer software's and for the benefit of every Microsoft user.
Due to the mix up of some numbers and names, and for security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential till your claims is being processed and your Certified Bank Cheque is being received by you.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. So be warned.
To file for your claim, please contact our Category "B" fiduciary agent who is your claims agent:
MR. ARTHUR BANNETT.
FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER,
Vertex Finance Company.
Email: artbann1515@yahoo.de
for due processing and the delivery of your won prize to be sent to you through Certified Bank Check. Please do also send to your claim Agent the following information:YOUR FULL NAME:
YOUR AGE:
YOUR SEX:
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR TITLE OR POSITION:
YOUR BATCH NUMBER:
YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER:
YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER:
YOUR FAX NUMBER:
YOUR FULL ADDRESS FOR THE POSTAGE OF YOUR WON PRIZE:However, it should be noted that all won prize must be claimed not later than 15th of April 2007. Any claim not made before this date will be returned back to the SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO as unclaimed won prize.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and Complications, please remember to quote your Reference and batch numbers in your correspondences with your claim agent.
Furthermore, should there be any Change of your address, do inform our fiduciary agent who is your claims agent as soon as possible.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants Of This program. We hope with a part of your prize, you will Participate in our mid year high stakes US$1.3Billion International Lottery.
Congratulations again from all our staff and thank you for being part Of our promotions program.Sincerely,
Dennis White
The Promotions Manager,
SWEETWIN LOTTO PROMO LOTTERY , UNITED KINGDOM .N.B. any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to disqualification.
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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