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Lottery Scam Report from a
Victim:
Shell Federal Credit Union
"Maria", "Blair Hodge"
Have you received an email from "Maria" at "Shell Federal Credit Union" telling you that "your
email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to
contact "Blair Hodge" to collect your winnings? It is a
scam. No legitimate, legal lottery notifies winners via email (see footnote)! The scammers may
change the names and details, but it is still a scam!
Below is the example of the fake lottery scam claiming to
be from the "Shell Federal Credit Union", related by the victim.
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. Typical warning signs 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.
Names are usually in all capital letters for some reason known only to these
illiterate criminals. 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 case reported by a victim (One example - the scammers constantly change
names, dates and addresses!):
Hello,
A little over
a week ago, I received 2 cashier’s checks drawn from the Shell Federal Credit
Union in Wood River, IL, one for $640 and one for $11,000 (+/-).
They were under
the cover of an envelope that used
a most-likely
computer-generated address label.
The accompanying
letter advised I had won a contest, and I had until May 10 to claim my
winnings.
I called
the 888 number on the checks and advised I suspected it was a scam, but the very
convincing person
on the other end
made
the whole
transaction seem perfectly legitimate. My instructions were to cash the $640
check and
use the cash to
purchase a Person
to Person money gram to
“Blair Hodge” of
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The
money gram was
for the purchase of a Surety Bond that would render the $11,000 check
negotiable.
Once dispatched,
I was to telephone Maria again and then fax to her a copy of my I.D.
– but she
cautioned me to blot out my DL # and any other personal information, just the
source of ID was all she needed.
I did as I was
instructed; the next day,
“Elizabeth” from
the mail room called and left a message, advising that I needed to send another
$320
Person to Person
money gram to
“Elizabeth
Crenshaw” at
the same Ontario
address to cover the Fed Ex customs fees. This sent up the red flag (all too
late). I called Maria back and she stated she did not realize that the
additional $320 was necessary, but that it was
for Fed Ex to do
their ex-ray and search of the
Surety Bond
package.
I then called
the real Shell Federal Credit Union, finding their phone number on the Web, and
talked with Kathy. She advised it was, in fact, a scam, and that she had called
the 888 number, as well, and found them to
appear very
legitimate.
The
“Secured Bond
Bureau” lists an address on their
“Surety Bond
Purchase Requisition Form” of 855 Arcola Ave., Regina, SK, S4N 0S9. The address
on their letter from
“Fidelity
Solutions” advising of my contest winnings is 436 McDonald St., Regina, SK S4N
6E1.
“Maria’s”
direct line was 416-831-2834, and her fax was 646-403-4126.
“Elizabeth’s”
phone number was
416-871-9755.
Is there
someone else I
should report
this to –
and do I
have any
recourse? I know I probably got off easy, but when my bank gets that check back
unpaid, it will hurt me in a big way financially.
Anything you
can do to assist me with this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Very truly
yours,
[name withheld by
CFR]
Names of Scam / Fake / Fraud Lottery
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery
scams companies
* Re: emails of winnings. We know of only ONE exception in the world to this rule
- and if you bought a ticket from them, you would know it, and would used their
safegaurds.
* Re: emails of winnings. We know of only ONE exception in the world to this rule
- and if you bought a ticket from them, you would know it, and would not be
questioning it.
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