Internet Scam: Fake Lottery

It continues to amaze me how successful this scam is at getting victims who think they've won a lottery that they have never entered (and scammers are really happy when they attract victims who just happened to *have* entered the lottery they are faking).

Here is what one of these fake lottery emails look like:

MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY DEPARTMENT UK

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This E-mail sent to you is to inform you that the Verifications Dept. at the headquarters of the MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY DEPARTMENT UK has officially cleared you for payment. The original copy of your certificate together with a covering document (Money Laundering protection and Letter of Affidavit for Claims) from the British government stating that the money was obtained legally through a registered lottery programmes (MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY DEPARTMENT UK) will be couriered to you as soon as you meet with any of the option listed below, your winnings will be transferred to you immediately.

SHIPMENT AND BILLING
The Lottery certified cheque and documents are packaged to be delivered under one way bill by the contracted Courier Company and are categorized as High priority & Express delivery under applicable laws and regulations. This shipment cannot be delivered to PO boxes or postal codes but to Receiver\'s address. Transit times for delivery of parcels to customers are in working days and are subject to change depending on location of collection and delivery, weight and value. For lightweight shipment, you may be charged for its value as well as dimensional weight rather than its actual weight.

INSURANCE POLICY
This delivery parcel for greater protection has also been insured in accordance with shipping regulations under unlimited liability. This comprehensive cash in transit insurance cover for your consignment has been arranged {for effective and fast customs clearance}.Delivery of parcel/Transfer of winnings commences {1-2 days} after payment covering delivery charges is made.

Whosoever must present the delivery officer identification card regarding to the above names mention. There after you will be given a tracking number to monitor your good on line.You can now begin the final step of the claims process, which is the transferring of your cash prize to you. With regards to this, find below options open to you; you are required to select the more convenient.

The options, together with their associated conditions are presented below:

OPTION ONE (SAME DAY DELIVERY)

Handling & Delivery Cost.............£240.00
Insurance....................................... .£230.00
Administrative Charges.................£025.00
Total Cost.......................................£495.00 GBP = $988.034 USD
Length of Days...............................24Hrs
Order Number.........................MS/35468/EGL

OPTION TWO (3-4 DAYS DELIVERY)

Handling & Delivery Cost............ £140.00
Insurance........................................£ 130.00
Admin istrative Charges.................£025.00
Total Cost.......................................£295.00 GBP = $589.553 USD
Length of Days...........................Three-Four Days
Order Number..........................MS/35468/EGL

OPTION THREE (BANK TRANSFER)

The said amount i.e £500,000.00(Five hundred thousand Pounds) will be transfed to your bank account via swift bank transfer. Condition: The cost of COT (commission of transfer) being charged by our transferring bank, which is 0.3% of £500,000.00 which is One Thousand Five Hundred Pounds (i.e £1,500.00GBP ) of the cash being transferred will be paid by you before the transfer can be effected.

Please note that the charges are best substantial because of the insurance cover we have undertaken incase of loss, damage or package breakage of your high priority document. We assume all responsibilities incase of any eventualities. The parcel which is to be delivered to you contains a cheque for the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Pounds Sterling which is approximately equal to One Million United States Dollars

The International money transfer company, Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram have been choosen as method of payments for customers, you are to make payment through any regional office close to you. This payment method was adopted to ameliorate and speed up the process of payment and delivery because of its wide network of operation.

Important Note: That your courier charges cannot be deducted from your Winnings due to Article 1186 section 45 subsection 2.3 of Constitution of the United Kingdom as relates to Financial and freight matters, which are duly codified in the United Kingdom law.

Good luck and Congratulations once again. Please send your response within the next 24hrs to this same email address.

We are glad to be of service to you.

MR. JERRY ANTHONY
CUSTOMER SERVICES
SKYLINK COMPANY. INC.
ADDRESS: 256 Fulham Road, Chelsea, LONDON, SW10 0YT.
Email: skylink_delivery@hotmail.com
TEL: +4470-1113-8668, +4470-4574-3744 

 

But here is something good coming out of the news today (scammers are so rarely caught, that I like to highlight when they DO get caught, because it gives me a sense of hope that the problem is being worked on). You can see the scope of just how successful this scam continues to be.

Nigerian lottery fraud ring busted by Spanish police

A Nigerian fraud ring which tricked some 500 people out of more than a million euros in a year by convincing them they had won the lottery has been busted by Spanish police.

 In a case mirroring many others from recent years, police detained six people in Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid, and Malaga in southern Spain, on suspicion of working the fraud.

Police said the network fished for victims by mailing out letters, mainly to Italians, claiming the person had won a million euros but needed to advance 4,000 euros in administrative fees to claim the jackpot.

"In 2012 alone nearly 500 victims, mainly Italian citizens, handed over various sums of money," the police said about the network, which they had been investigating since late 2011.

In total, more than 600 people took the bait and called the number on the letter. At the other end a man in Malaga would explain how to proceed with the bank or postal money transfers.

The alleged fraudsters collected the money at the post office with the help of forged passports bearing internet photos of famous stars, including American singer Alicia Keys.

The network then broke off all contact with the victim.

Police seized "800 Nigerian letters ready for posting, 700 envelopes, lists of possible victims" in their search, along with 100 photos destined for passport forgery.

At the time of the arrests in a building in Torrejon de Ardoz, some "tried to flee through the window after flushing a large quantity of drugs down the toilet," the police said, adding the network also trafficked narcotics.

The fraud is only the latest of its kind to hit Spain and other countries in recent years.
In January 2012, Indian police arrested six Nigerian nationals on suspicion of defrauding hundreds through text message and spam email scams with similar lottery claims.

In March 2009, Spanish police arrested 23 people, most of them Nigerians, on suspicion of running an email and letter scam that duped residents in the United States and Europe into believing they were left an inheritance.

One year earlier Spanish police arrested 51 people suspected of running a lottery scam that netted around 40 million euros.