LOTTO SCAMS – A WALK-THROUGH
Have you received an e-mail claiming you have won a cash prize in a lottery? Sorry, it’s a scam! Microsoft and other big companies DO NOT give away money to strangers, whose e-mails they pick out of a hat! If you’d bought a ticket in a regular, or online lottery, in a foreign country, you’d remember! Besides which, e-mail is not the way lottery winners are either selected or notified.
This scam format is becoming more and more common, for a number of reasons. People often WANT to believe that they might have won money., or else they feel they have nothing to lose by playing along, just on the off-chance that there might be money at the end of it all. There is money in this story, but it’s the lottery “winner” alone who ends up paying out.
You might be wondering what would happen if you decide to continue writing to the scammers – “just in case” there’s some mistake, and you have REALLY won 1.5 million dollars in a lottery you never entered.
Well, I’ve taken the liberty of doing that for you, and I will explain how each part of a typical lottery scam works.
The initial e-mail will look something like this.
From: Mr. John Pecho <letiantangle02@hotmail.com>
Reply To:
claimsofficelottery@yahoo.com.hk Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU WON
Sent: Friday, November 4, 2005 2:17 PM
FROM: THE DIRECTOR NATIONAL LOTTERY/THELOTTERY INTERNATIONAL WORLD WIDE. REF: EL3/9318/05 BATCH:8/163/EL. Attn ear Sir/Madam We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lottery Winners International programs held on the 31/10/2005. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: EL-23133 with serial number: EL-123542, batch number: EL-35, lottery ref number: EL-9318 and drew Lucky numbers 7-1-8-36-4-22 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars) CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU WON Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential from the public until your claims has been processed and your money Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants. All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 40,000 company and 20,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every year. This lottery was promoted and sponsored by a group of successful electronic dealers in partnership with micro Soft Corporation. We hope with part of your winning, you will take part in our next year US$20 million international lottery. To file for your claim, please contact our paying officer. Mr. PAUL Steve (Lottery Director) Scotland Lottery Company Victoria. 1902AB, TEL: + 44 7040125952 FAX; + 44 7040125952 Email:
claimsofficelottery1@yahoo.com.hk Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 15th of November, 2005.After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake. Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible. Congratulations once more from our members of staff And thank you for being part of our promotional program. Note: Anybody under the age of 16 is automatically Disqualified. Yours Sincerely, Mr.John Pecho. For Management (Please note that all winning cash claims are subjected to lottery tax payments which are payable upfront only) N.B. *** Below are some questions and answers often associated with potential winners **** Question 1. How did you get my email Address Answer 1. We got your email address through your email company/isp during our email draws, before determining eligible winners Question 2. How did i win without playing or applying for the lottery game? Answer 2. Your winning of $1,500,000. (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) is part of the give away cash offered yearly by micro soft corporation to show our appreciation for our customers nation wide. Question 3. How do i claim my winning price? Answer 3. All prices should be claimed by contacting our claims agent on the above email.
You will notice a couple of things straight away. Firstly, the “from” address (From: Mr. John Pecho <letiantangle02@hotmail.com>), and the “reply-to” (Reply To:
claimsofficelottery@yahoo.com.hk) address are different. This occurs because the scammer fully expects the account he sends the mail from ( the spamming account) to be shut down fairly quickly by the mail providers for spamming. It is not just you who will receive this mail, but thousands of others. If this occurs, he will still receive victims replies at his safe account, which does not send out mass emails, and will therefore be less likely to be suspended.
The scammers use software to extract e-mail addresses from guest books, and other online resources, as well as purchasing them from marketing companies. Notice how also the spamming address is
letiantangle02@hotmail.com. It’s a pretty safe bet that
letiantangle01@hotmail.com exists also, and is also used for spamming victims.
In this example, the person writing to you about your win starts off as “Mr. John Pecho”, but directs you to his “paying agent”, a “Mr. PAUL Steve”. For some reason, Mr Steve’s name is in capitals, and his title changes to lottery director mid- email.
Even if your winning e-mail does not contain glaring mistakes like this one, the most telling line in this email is the following:
[XXXXXX]“(Please note that all winning cash claims are subjected to lottery tax payments which are payable upfront only)”[/size]In most countries, lottery winnings are tax-free, and it is safe to say that a demand for taxes upfront is a sure sign of a scam. No officially sanctioned lottery would demand such fees, and certainly not in advance of a prize payment. A common variation of the theme would be for the scammers to demand payment of “courier fees” to send the victim his winning cheque or cash. However the advance fee is explained, the kernel of the scam remains the same – pay upfront to get your winnings!
These scammers have been clever enough to try explain away the usual questions the more alert victim might have at this point in their initial email:
“N.B. *** Below are some questions and answers often associated with potential winners ****
Question 1. How did you get my email Address
Answer 1. We got your email address through your email company/isp during our email draws, before determining eligible winners
Question 2. How did i win without playing or applying for the lottery game?
Answer 2. Your winning of $1,500,000. (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) is part of the give away cash offered yearly by micro soft corporation to show our appreciation for our customers nation wide.
Question 3. How do i claim my winning price?
Answer 3. All prices should be claimed by contacting our claims agent on the above email.”
I replied with a typical victim-style email, as follows:
“HI
I am a winner in your draw. What do I do next t receive my winnings?
Thank you
Joe Soap”
They waste little time replying with this:
“CLAIMS AGENT
THE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL/NATIONAL LOTTERY
RE: WINNING PRIZE OF $1.5 MILLION USD ONLY.
ATTENTION WINNER,
WE HEREBY CONGRATULATE YOU OVER YOUR WINNING. KINDLY BE INFORMED
THAT YOUR WINNING FUNDS HAS BEEN PACKAGED INTO TWO METALIC TRUNK
BOXES WHICH CONTAINS $1 MILLION AND ALSO 5 HUNDRED THOUSAND $USD, MAKING A TOTAL OF $1.5M (ONE MILLION FIVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS).
FIND ATTACHED THE TRUNK BOXES CONTAINING THE WINNING PRIZES OF $1.5 MILLION. IN ORDER TO PROCESS YOUR WINNING, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SEND US:
YOUR FULL NAME(S)
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR AGE
YOUR OCCUPATION
NAME AND POSITION HELD IN YOUR COMPANY
STATE AND COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE
UPON PROVISION OF THE REQUESTED DETAILS, WE SHALL ISSUE YOU A
WINNING CERTIFICATE SUBSEQUENTLY AFTER WHICH YOUR $1.5 MILLION
WOULD BE PACKAGED AND SENT TO YOU VIA A STANDARD COURRIER COMPANY.
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU.
MR. SMITH
LOTTERY CLAIMS CORDINATOR.
(
winningclaims@winning.com)”
Note yet another email address. This one looks quite official, but is in fact from mail.com (
http://www.mail.com). This provider makes it very easy to concoct relatively official-sounding mail addresses, which is a favourite trick of the scammers.
They might also, at this point, ask you for bank details, or for photo i.d. scans ( drivers’ licence, passport etc). Under no circumstances should such information be divulged to them, and NEVER send them your photo i.d. These are all too often used against other victims.
I sent them on some fake details:
“HI
My details are as follows:
FULL NAME(S) Joe Soap
YOUR ADDRESS:
5, Stapolaim Lawns
Portmarnock
Dublin 1
Ireland
YOUR AGE :57
YOUR OCCUPATION: Civil servant ( retired)
NAME AND POSITION HELD IN YOUR COMPANY: exevutive clerical Officer
STATE AND COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE: Ireland
I don't remember buying a ticket for this lottery. How come I won so much money? Don't get me worng, I'm not turning my nose up at it!
Whats next?
Joe Soap”
Again, the scammers were prompt in their reply:
“Dear Winner,
While we are in the process of filing and processing your claims certificate, we will like you to once again confirm your information as provided by you.
If this is correct, the information would reflect on your winning certificate
after which it would be sent to you via email, and not postal in order for you
to meet up with the deadline for the claims of your lottery winning prizes.
The metallic trunk boxes shown to you would subsequently be deposited in a safe security/courier company, and would be shipped directly to your doorstep in your residential location as provided.
Please note that all handling and administrative cost of shipping the
consignment to you would be paid by YOU only, as we are prohibited by the
lottery policy to deduct all charges from your winning in order to ensure a
transparent claim.
While your claims is being processes, we advice you take a look at a couple of pictures containing the lottery national members, and also our past winners.
Upon your response, your winning certificate would be issued subsequently after which further information would be provided to you. Once again, accept our hearty Congratulations.
Thank you and Stay Blessed.
Please, Confirm Your Information Below:
=====================================
FULL NAME(S) Joe Soap
YOUR ADDRESS: 5, Stapolaim Lawns Portmarnock
Dublin 1 Ireland
=====================================
QUESTIONS:
YOU DID NOT BUY ANY TICKET. YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS "xxxx @hotmail.com" WAS AUTOMATICALLY SELECTED RANDOMLY THROUGH OUR EMAIL BALLOT SYSTEM.”
Again, a nifty explanation to my question about how I came to be so lucky as to win a lotto I never entered – when I never win the ones I DO enter!!
They then send me several emails as they sense I am about to pay out:
“CLAIMS AGENT
THE LOTTERY/NATIONAL LOTTERY
RE: WINNING PRIZE OF $1.5 MILLION USD ONLY.
IN ORDER TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMS OF WINNINGS, KINDLY SEND US THE BELOW DETAILS:
YOUR WINNING DATE
YOUR WINNING REF: NO.
YOUR FULL NAME(S)
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR AGE
YOUR OCCUPATION
NAME AND POSITION HELD IN YOUR COMPANY
STATE AND COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE
THANK YOU”
This one came from yet another address!! There are a couple of reasons for this. As it comes closer to payout time for the victim, they want to be sure there are no problems with mail addresses being reported for fraud or spam. Also, because they often work in gangs, the gang leader, or oga, will want to make sure he is kept in the loop, so that his soldiers do not receive payments from victims behind his back.
Then I receive some pictures of previous winners receiving their cheques, which have obviously been gleaned from other genuine lottery websites or similar, just so I can believe their story a lttle more!
This example is unusual as it combines a lottery scam with a "trunk-box" scam, probably because the scammer has some trunk box photos etc handy to back up his claims. However, the photos I recieved were of "winners" recieving cheques!
[XXXXXX]The upshot is, if its too good to be true, then it most likely ISN'T true![/size]