Lottery Scam Email:
Microsoft Award Team
"MR.GERY BROOK", "MR WESLEY SCHOLES"
Did you know that Microsoft has a lottery? And that they give
away huge amounts of money to people simply for having "an active online email
account"?
This is news to Microsoft, too. If you received an email from "MR.GERY BROOK" at "Microsoft Award Team" telling you that "your
email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to
contact "MR WESLEY SCHOLES" to collect your winnings, it is a
scam.
Microsoft has never had any lottery (and we're pretty sure they never
will). Bill Gates has made that pretty clear. Their motto is most
definitely NOT "Fighting Poverty Around the World" - They are one of the richest
companies on the planet!
And, while we're on
the subject, Microsoft is not, does not, and will not ever send you to DisneyWorld. They
don't "test the internet", nor sponsor email lotteries to "promote use of the
internet", "to promote the use of email", to reward users, nor "to
promote the use of computers
worldwide". Nor do they have lotteries to "promote MS Word" or "the launch
of Vista", Hotmail, or other products. No lottery selects winners "using a
database of email addresses", or "from websites worldwide", or from "our
computer ballot system".
The scammers may
change the names and details, but it is still a scam! Don't be an complete
imbecile!
Below is the example of the fake lottery scam claiming to
be from the "Microsoft Award Team".
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:
-
Microsoft does not have or sponsor any lottery.
-
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.
Actual scam email (One example - the scammers constantly change
names, dates and addresses!):
From the victim:
This is obviously a scam.There is a line saying " The
Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill
Gates " Now..im a 14 year old kid and yet i know that Bill gates is a Creator of
Microsoft.So how can he be the chairman?He shuld be the boss!And i have lots of
Spam mails.Another thing,if Microsoft was the one who host this event,the e-mail
would be smthing speacial like
bill@microsoft.com.org and not
mr_wesleyscholes002@yahoo.co.uk (notice the yahoo.uk =.=) And will microsoft
do this whatever jackpot thing?Its a waste of time!
From the scammer:
Microsoft Award Team
20 Craven Park, Harlesden
London NW10
United Kingdom
FILE REF: HL/5564/06/07/MICS
BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /EU
OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION
The prestigious Microsoft and AOL has set out and
successfully organised a Sweepstakes marking the new year anniversary for 2008,
we rolled out over Ј450.000.00 (Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand pounds
sterling) Draws.
Participants for the draws were randomly selected and
drawn from a wide range of web hosts which we enjoy their patronage.
Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached
to ticket number 008795727498 with serial numbers BTD/9080648302/06 and drew the
lucky numbers 14-21-25-39-40-47(20) which subsequently won you Ј450.000.00
(Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand pounds sterling) as one of the jackpot winners
in his draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of
Ј450.000.00GBP (Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand pounds sterling)
These are your identification numbers:MCS-26799/097
CATEGORY NO.OF WINNERS WINNING PRIZES 1st. 2 Ј 500,000.00 pounds each 2nd.
8 Ј 350.000.00 pounds each 3rd. 13 Ј 250,000.00 pounds each 4th. 27
Ј 170,000.00 pounds each CLAIMS REQUIREMENTS:
1. Full names:
2. Residential address:
3. Phone number:
4. Fax number:
5. Occupation:
6. Sex:
7. Age:
8. Nationality:
9. Present Country:
10.Next of kin name/address:
Mode Of Price Remittance.
(1)Cash Pick-Up (You coming Down to Uk Personally to
Pick Your Price).
(2)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque
Name and other Winning Documents safely to you.
FOREIGN TRANSFER MANAGER
MR WESLEY SCHOLES
MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT (UK).
E-mail:mr_wesleyscholes002@yahoo.co.uk
The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards is
sponsored by our CEO/Chairman, Bill Gates and a consortium of software promotion
companies. The Intel Group, Toshiba, Dell Computers and other International
Companies. The Microsoft internet E-mail draw is held periodically and is
organized to encourage the use of the Internet and promote computer literacy
worldwide.
Once again on behalf of all our staff,
CONGRATULATIONS!
Sincerely,
MR.GERY BROOK
M.S.PRO. ZONAL COORDINATOR.
Names of Scam / Fake / Fraud Lottery
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery
scams companies
***
| 
