Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
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Did you receive an email from "Mrs. Mariam Benson" saying "lottery / promo scam email you can expect to receive another email like the one below from "Mr. Murray Paul" at "Swift Express Courier Company, West Africa" telling you that that you must pay "hardcover insurance policy", "delivery fees", "taxes", etc. Of course, that is all nonsense. Real lotteries are prohibited by law in most countries from charging winners these fees. Some of this is simply made up: there is no such thing as a "hardcover insurance policy" - go ahead, search on that term in Google and see if you can find a single definition. Similarly, the references to specific laws and regulations are either completely made up, or taken completely out of context.
The simple fact you must somehow grasp is no legitimate lottery will ever email a winner, nor require a winner to pay any fees, taxes or delivery charges. 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:
NO LOTTERY ANYWHERE REQUIRES WINNERS TO PAY FEES, TAXES OR OTHER CHARGES TO COLLECT THEIR WINNINGS!!! Can we say it any more plainly than that?
Pigeon English - Notice that as the scammer gets past the initial template email and must write free-form, how his grammar, spelling and basic sentence structure go straight in the toilet. The scammers don't even know how to use spell checkers. After all, this is a stupid, low-life criminal in the heart of Africa, who probably dropped out of school at age 5 to join a gang or militia. Obviously, 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!"
Here is a typical scam lottery winning notification.
Greetings To You !!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been waiting for you to contact me for your Confirmable Bank Draft of $350,000.00 United States Dollars, but I did not hear from you since that time.
Then I went and deposited the Draft with Swift Express Courier Company, West Africa, I travelled out of the country for a 3 Months Course and I will not come back till end of July.
What you have to do now is to contact the Swift Express Courier Company as soon as possible to know when they will deliver your package to you because of the expiring date.
For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charge, Insurance premium and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is not a Drug Money or meant to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country except the security keeping fees which will be paid by you.
The only money you will send to the Swift Express Courier Company to deliver your Draft direct to your postal Address in your country is ($90 USD)Dollars only being Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far.
I have to let you pay this yourself because i dont know when you will contact them and in case of demurrage.
You have to contact the Swift Express Courier Company now for the delivery of your Draft with this information bellow:
Swift Express Contact:: Mr. Murray Paul.
Email :: swiftexpress.company134@yahoo.fr
Telephone: +2348054231153
Finally, make sure that you reconfirm :
1. Full Name:
2. Full Address:
3. Occupation:
4. Age:
5. Sex:
6. Telephone Number:
7. Nationality:
8. Place of Residence:
To avoid any mistake on the Delivery. And ask them to give you the tracking number after payment to enable you track your package over there and know when it will get to your address.
Let me repeat again, try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid any further delay and remember to pay them their Security Keeping fee of $90 US Dollars for their immediate action.
You should also let me know through email as soon as you receive your Draft.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Mariam Benson
Former Director Presidential Library & Museum International Online Lottery Co-ordinator.© 2008
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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