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Global Lotteries: The Microsoft Lottery Scam

Posted by admin on Nov-29-2011

With the development of mass communication there has been a growth in the number of frauds and scams available – many involve supposed lottery wins and not all involve legitimate lotteries such as the UK lottery draw or the European lottery.

There are indeed many global lotteries in which you can win but I have been sent details of a scam involving a fictitious lottery run by Microsoft (thank you, Nelson).

An email is sent out claiming the recipient has won a substantial sum of money in the ‘Microsoft Lottery.’

The winner is then requested to send either personal details (perhaps bank details) or a sum of money as an ‘administration fee’ or similar.

Clearly the fraudsters want either to steal the recipient’s personal details/identity or simply relieve them of money. In some instances victims have supplied the requested details or funds and are then contacted several times in succession with further requests. It would seem that, once a victim has been identified, the criminals see them as an easy target and try to get more.

There is no Microsoft lottery of course and in any case you will never be in a lottery you did not know about. You have to pay money to join a lottery or lottery syndicate in advance. Also none of the legitimate global lotteries will contact winners direct – if you think your ticket has won you a prize, it is up to you to claim the money.


Microsoft themselves issue this advice on their website: “Microsoft customers are often targets of a scam that uses email messages to falsely promise money. There is no Microsoft lottery. Delete the message. If you have lost money to this scam report it. You can also send the police report to Microsoft and we will use it to help law enforcement catch the criminals who send out these email messages.”

The best general advice is to ignore any emails, letters or telephone calls that are both unexpected and seem too good to be true – even if it seems to be from one of the legitimate global lotteries.

If there is any doubt you can always Google the name of the lottery, look to see if any scams are already reported and check the official website of whichever of the global lotteries is concerned.

Never part with money or details to someone you do not know.

I have been given details of the contacts on one such ‘Microsoft’ email and these might help identify future frauds. Avoid anything using these, even if it apparently comes from one of the global lotteries.

The details on the email were:

 Mr. Terry Martins- ballotdraw.board@msn.com

Promotion Director: Mrs. Catherine Douglas.

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Play Lotteries Online: Facebook Lottery Scam

Posted by admin on Oct-28-2011

Once again evidence showing why you can only rely on lottery tickets purchased in shops, or why it is good to play lotteries online, has shown itself. This time it involves a scam supposedly sourced from Facebook (it had to happen).

The American Better Business Bureau report bogus emails arriving in victim’s inboxes supposedly from Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. The emails claim the recipient is the winner of $1 million in the Facebook 2011 Sweepstakes.

Curiously the email goes on to claim the prize will be released from the Facebook office in England and victims are asked to click on a link. As so often happens there is a paragraph requesting complete confidentiality: this of course ensures the recipient does not discuss the email with anybody else and so discover it is a fraud.

Of course the email is not from Facebook at all but from some shadowy scammer somewhere in the world.

As usual there are several clues to prove the email is bogus. Firstly in this case the office is “in England.” Why this would be case in a legitimate lottery is unclear but certainly anyone from or familiar with the country would be more likely to describe it as ‘Britain’ or the ‘United Kingdom’ than just ‘England.’ Equally, as has been said so often, no lottery organizer will send an unexpected message to say someone has won their lottery – you will know already that you have bought a ticket or that you already play lotteries online. The emails always contain bad spelling or grammar or other mistakes, such as the reference to ‘England’ already mentioned.


Such scams are simply out to part you either from your details (and therefore your identity) or your money (in the form of some ‘administrative fee’ or similar).

If you do get such an email you can report it to the authorities closest to you and/or delete it. Never get involved in any way.

See more about these fraudulent emails at the Better Business Bureau website.

If you want to find the best lotteries to play and to legitimately play lotteries online, please click on one of the banners on this page.

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Global Lotteries: Watch For The Scams

Posted by admin on Jun-10-2011

Yet another new lottery fraud has surfaced in the town of Austintown, Ohio and has been reported on the WKBN.com website.

At first this one appears to be exciting and not a scam at all. A lady in Austintown received a cheque for $1985 in the post, supposedly from a body calling itself the ‘Global Lotto Commission.’

The letter with the cheque claims she has won part of a $125 000 lottery jackpot. The next step was for her to call a number given in the letter to speak to a specific individual. Fortunately the lady concerned was smart enough not to call the number but instead to report the letter.

Of course there is no such organization as the Global Lotto Commission; indeed the name is well known as a scam cover and has been used before.

But surely in this case, the lady could have just cashed the cheque and profited that way? Sadly if she rang the number provided she would be told to send a portion of the money via Western Union to cover administration charges. The cheque she received will certainly prove to be invalid and she would have sent her own money to the scammers.

The British National Lottery administrators, Camelot, and other lottery bodies are aware of how common these scams are becoming and are keen to educate people on what to look for and not give money or information to the scammers.

After all, that is what these people are after: your money or your identity.

The British National Lottery website provides some useful information relevant to anyone and to any of the many global lotteries.

The first rules should be well known but bear repeating. No lottery organization will contact you to tell you of a winning lottery ticket; you have to claim your winnings from them and show your winning ticket.

You will already know you are in a lottery, as you will have purchased a ticket or joined a syndicate. In other words, you will have already parted with money to play the lottery in advance. Now you can play lotteries online but you still purchase tickets before the draw.

The British National Lottery and other lottery administrators will never tell you how much you have won in an email and certainly would never ask for your personal details or money. Why would they?

The scammers are getting more sophisticated however. Emails may include an embedded link which will take you to an official looking website. Not surprisingly you will be asked to enter your details on this site or perhaps download software.

This of course is phishing and will give the scammer details that can be used to access your accounts or even make purchases in your name.

Never follow a link in such an email. If you think the email might be genuine (unlikely) and you want to check, find the proper official website yourself through Google. If the results bring up a different website to the one in the email then you are being scammed.

Obviously the different global lotteries have different websites but the one for the British National Lottery can be found at National-Lottery.co.uk.

The bottom line is if you receive an email, letter or telephone call telling you of a prize from a lottery you have not entered, delete the email, destroy the letter or put the telephone down. You may want to report it to the appropriate authorities first but never act on the information you are given.

These scammers have made too much money from their victims. Let’s shut off their sources.

 

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Posted in: British National Lottery, Lottery Scams, UK Lottery Draw, World Lotteries
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Play Lotteries Online: A New Lottery Scam In Florida

Posted by admin on Apr-22-2011

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Scams Word Crossed Out

 

A new twist on lottery scams has been reported by a local website in Florida in the USA.

A pair of confidence tricksters has approached elderly people in the areas of Brandon and Tampa. One is a young woman of Hispanic origins and the other an older bearded man.

The two approach their victims and tell them they have won a lottery payout but they need to borrow some money to cover expenses in claiming their winnings.

Incredibly the victims have given the tricksters several thousand dollars each time.

The ploy ends when the couple ask their victim to visit a store on their behalf. Not surprisingly, whilst he or she is inside the criminals disappear.

This scam is a new angle on previous versions where victims are told they have won a lottery prize but need to pay money in advance of receiving their winnings. The money is paid and nothing more is heard.

The reality is of course that no money is ever needed upfront to claim a lottery prize. Winners will already know if they have won from the wide publicity given to lottery draw winning numbers and will also have purchased a ticket or a place on a lottery syndicate.

One way to get involved is to play lotteries online and a great place to get your tickets is at the Lotter.

 

 

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Avoiding Lottery Scam Emails

Posted by admin on Nov-22-2010

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Originally posted to Ezine Articles
Avoiding Lottery Scam Emails

By Daniel Collins

In recent times, lottery scam emails have become increasingly clever, as well as a lot more common. Indeed, lottery scam emails are nothing new, but they are becoming a lot more widespread as technology progresses and an increasing number of people gain access to the internet.

As it goes, emails are quite easy to forge; they can appear to come from an official sounding source, which can often lead unsuspecting recipients to appear far more trustworthy than they should be. A typical lottery scam email informs the recipient that they have won a major prize and then requests that the “winner” takes a number of steps to claim it. As such, one of the steps will be to claim the prize, and then arranging for it to be transferred to the winner’s bank account.

The scam procedure for a prize transfer involves the recipient being asked to pay a handling fee so that their prize can be deposited into the bank account of the winner. This fee is often a sizeable amount of four figures or more; however, because the reader thinks they have won millions, and they are dealing with an official organisation, they are often willing to pay this sum. Of course, as soon as the handling fee has been paid, the scam is complete and the unsuspecting lottery winner has unfortunately lost a substantial amount of money.

However, there are some lottery scam warnings to look out for, which can prove very useful in helping lottery players avoid being duped:

  • First, always remember that you can only win a lottery game that you have actually entered. If you can’t remember entering a lottery that an email says you have won, consider this to be a big red flag; someone is probably trying to scam you.
  • Next, always look at the name of the lottery that the email is purported to represent. Scam emails often name lottery organisations that don’t exist in the real world, as is the case in a UK International Lottery scam. Therefore, if the lottery doesn’t exist, you can be sure the email is also a fake.
  • Finally, be sure to note that no genuine lottery game will ever ask you to pay any handling fee in order to claim a prize. So, if you get a scam email (or letter, or phone call) asking you for money because you’re a “winner”, either ignore it or report it to the authorities.

    • Although you can’t stop lottery scam emails from arriving in your inboxes, the good news is that from looking out for the specific lottery scam warnings, you can avoid getting caught out by them.

    To be forewarned is to be forearmed, so by paying attention to the latest scam developments, you will be in the best possible position to stay safe in what is becoming an increasingly deceptive online world.

    Daniel Collins writes on a number of topics on behalf of a digital marketing agency and a variety of clients. As such, this article is to be considered a professional piece with business interests in mind.

    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Collins
    http://EzineArticles.com/?Avoiding-Lottery-Scam-Emails&id=1839684

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    Please note: Lottery scams are also after your personal information so please do not provide them. Identity theft is an increasing problem.

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