Sample Promotion Prize Scam Email:
NL National Lotto/International Promotions
"Mr.Van Gogh, Angela
Jones"
If the name "Mr.Van Gogh" from an alleged Dutch Lottery, "NL
National Lotto/International Promotions" isn't cliche' enough to tell you that
thi sis a scam, they we can only assume that you aren't an art lover.
This is a very simple scam. They claim you won a
promotion, which is giving away millions of dollars based on a randomly selected
email address. The scam is obvious: it's simply preposterous to think that
any company would randomly give away money to encourage you to buy lottery
tickets. That would be self-defeating.
Although the most important clue is that no legitimate lottery,
and almost no legitimate sweepstakes or promotions will 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.
-
Using free email account: The scammer is writing to
you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.). Don't you think a real organization
would use its own email, its own domain and website? Wouldn't they want to
promote that?
-
What are they promoting? No one promotes "world
peace" or "use of the internet" by handing out millions to random strangers.
And if they are promoting a product, then
this must be the world's worst promotion, because no one has heard of it,
outside of the email you just received.
-
Pay a fee to collect the prize: Nope, it is illegal
for free sweepstakes and promotions to charge you ANYTHING! Of course, in a
scam, that is the whole point: to get you to send money to the scammer.
It is a typical scam sweepstakes winning notification. Also
see these pages:
Sample scam email
2007 LOTTERY PRIZE AWARD DEPT
Company, attached to:
REFERENCE No: ASL- WF97 - 2G3
BATCH No: OX7T - 6T5T - N3N
We are pleased to notify you of the release today as dated of the NL National
Lotto/International Promotions programs held on the 22th
day of febuary 2007. Participants
were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from 98,000 names from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New
Zealand, Middle-East, Africa, North & South America and
canada as part of our
international promotions program conducted annually to encourage prospective
overseas entries. We hope with part of your prize awards, you will take part in
our end of year lotto jackpot of 1.3 Billion International Lotto.
As a category B winner, you have been selected by computer balloting system
where only email addresses are soughted,
from a total numbers of 30,000 email addresses drawn from all over the globe.
After an automated computer ballot of our International Promotions Program
consequently won in the second Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump
sum pay out of US$2,000,000.00 in cash, which is the winning payout for second
categories winners. This is from the total prize money of US$45,000,000.00
shared among the eight international win! ners in the SECOND category.
CONTACT PERSON
Mr.Van Gogh
E-mail:
nlonlinedraw_2007@yahoo.com.hk
Tel:+31 613 606 548
Fax: 318 474 54671
Your are advice to provide him with the following bellow?
1.Full Name:____________________
2.Address:______________________
3.Nationality:____________________
4.Age:______________________________
5.Occupation:____________________
6.Phone:________________________
7.State of Origin:_________________
8.Country:______________________
Yours Sincerely,
Angela Jones.
Also see this example:
2007 LOTTERY PRIZE AWARD DEPT
Company, attached to:
REFERENCE No: ASL- WF97 - 2G3
BATCH No: OX7T - 6T5T - N3N
We are pleased to notify you of the release today as dated of the NL National Lotto/International Promotions programs held on the 3rd day of
april 2007. Participants were selected through a
computer ballot system drawn from 98,000 names from Europe, America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East, Africa,North & South America and
canada as part of our international promotions program conducted annually to encourage prospective overseas entries. We hope with part of your prize awards, you will take part in our end of year lotto jackpot of 1.3 Billion International Lotto.
As a category B winner, you have been selected by
computer balloting system where only email addresses are
soughted, from a total numbers of 30,000 email addresses drawn from all over the globe. After an automated computer ballot of our International Promotions Program consequently won in the second Category. You have therefore been awarded a lump sum pay out of US$2,000,000.00 in cash, which is the winning payout for second categories winners. This is from the total prize money of US$45,000,000.00 shared among the eight international
win! ners in the SECOND category.
CONTACT PERSON
Mr van gogh
E-mail: mrvangogh232@yahoo.com.hk
TEL: +31 644 863 856
FAX: +31 205 248 266
Your are advise to provide him with the following below?
1.Full Name:________________
2.Address:__________________
3.Nationality:______________
4.Age: ____________________
5.Occupation:_______________
6.Phone:__________________
7.State: _________________
8.Country:________________
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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