Lottery Scam Email:
Google UK Lottery Sweepstakes
"Larry Page", "Matt Brittin"
Have you received an email from "Larry Page" at "Google UK Lottery Sweepstakes" telling you that "this will come as a surprise to you", and to contact "Matt Brittin" to collect your winnings? It is a scam. Google does not operate ANY lottery or sweepstakes. And certainly, 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 another example of a fake lottery; this email claims to be from the "Google UK Lottery Sweepstakes".
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. You are to contact Ms. Annette Mullaney at AnnMullaney@googlefps.co.uk. Notice that is NOT Googles true domain (google.com or google.co.uk), but a made up name.
Of course, if you do contact them, eventually the scammer will either ask for confidential information from you (like your social securioty number, bank account, etc.) or will say you have to pay a fee by Wester Union Moneygram to pay for fees. Real lotteries do not make winners pay fees.
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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!
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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!):
Names of Scam / Fake / Fraud Lottery
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.