Consumer Fraud Reporting
MS Global Email Lot
Reporting on the Latest Frauds, Scams, Fake Lotteries, Spams and Hoaxes

 

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Lottery Scam Email:
MICROSOFT GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY - INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
"Mark Van Dijk", "David Brown" or "David Brawn"

Did you know that Microsoft has a sweepstakes? 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 "Mark Van Dijk" at "MICROSOFT GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY - INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT" telling you that "your email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to contact "David Brown" 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.  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", nor "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".

And why would they be sending this email from a free hotmail account, with a drawing supposedly held in the Netherlands, and administered from South Africa...when Microsoft's headquarters are in the United States and the "winner" is in the UK? That alone should make anyone suspicious!

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 GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY - INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT".  

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. 

• Master list of sample lottery scam emails

• How to recognize a lottery scam

• What to do if you think you have been the victim of a lottery scam

• How the lottery / sweepstakes scams work

Actual scam email (One example - the scammers constantly change names, dates and addresses!):

From: BRAWN DAVID <davidbrawn0034@hotmail.com>
Date: Jan 7, 2008 1:45 PM
Subject: AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION‏
To:

 

microsoft                                                                         FROM THE DESK OF THE MICROSOFT COORDINATOR {MICROSOFT GLOBAL E-MAIL LOTTERY} INTERNATIONAL PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT AMSTERDAM  THE NETHERLANDS FILE REF:HL/5564/40/07/MICS BATCH: MC11/834/5PDH /EU

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION: DEAR WINNER:  It is obvious that this notification will come to you as a surprise but please find time to read it carefully as we congratulate you over your success in the following official publication of results of the E-mail electronic online Sweepstakes organized by Microsoft,in conjunction with the foundation for the promotion of software products,( F.P.S.)held on the 28th of SEPTEMBER 2007,in Amsterdam The Netherlands .  Wherein your electronic email address emerged as one of the online winning emails in the 1st category and therefore attracted a cash award of GBP £2,500,000.00 (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand  British Pounds only) which your file falls in our South African Claim office in Johannesburg  Our winners are arranged into four categories with different winning prizes accordingly in each category. They are arranged in this format below:  CATEGORY      NO.OF WINNERS          WINNING PRIZES   1st.              2             1,000,000.00 each   2nd.              8             800, 000.00  each   3rd.             13             470,000.00   each   4th.             27             170,000.00   each  We write to officially notify you of this award and to advise you to contact the processing office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and eventual payment of the above prize to you.  It is important to note that your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it.  (1) Award numbers: NL 56/7765 (2) Email ticket numbers: N L553/26/96 (3) Batch numbers: MC11/834/5PDH /EU (4) The file reference numbers: HL/5564/40/07/MICS {5} Serial Numbers:McST/006/NL4657  Details of Beneficiary Name (Surname First):....................................................................... Address:............................................................................................. Country:............................................................................................. Telephone:......................................................................................... Gender:............................................................... Marital Status:.................................................. Age:..................................................................... Occupation:........................................................ Email Address:.................................................. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF COMPANY/ INDIVIDUAL:   .......................................................................................................................      Date:                          Signature:  To file for your claim,Please contact your Validating Officer  for VALIDATION of your winning within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of winning notification are termed void and invalid. You are required to mention the above particulars of your award in every correspondence to enable the Agentin South Africa  validate your winning CONTACT: ******************************************************************* FOREIGN CLAIM MANAGER NAME  mr davidbrown MICROSOFT SECURITY DEPARTMENT(RSA) TEL:+ 27  72  98 455 89 E-mail: claimagent2007@gala.net     ******************************************************************** 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!  Yours faithfully, Mr. Mark Van Dijk  MICROSOFT E-MAIL LOTTERY PROMOTION COORDINATOR.   Copyright © 1994-2007 The Microsoft Internet E-mail lottery Awards Promotion Inc. All rights reserve d. Terms of Service -Guideline.

 

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