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You receive an unsolicited email, which states that you have won a major prize in an international lottery. Supposedly, your email address was collected online and attached to a random number that was subsequently entered in a draw for the lottery. In order to claim your prize, you are instructed to contact the official "agent" in charge of your case. You are also advised to keep the win confidential for "security reasons". This part of the scam is basically a random phishing expedition. If you respond in any way to the email, the scammers will send further messages or even contact you by phone in an attempt to draw you deeper into the scam.

You may be asked to provide banking details, a large amount of personal information, and copies of your driver's licence and passport. Ostensibly, these requests are to prove your identity and facilitate the transfer of your winnings. However, if you comply with these requests, the scammers will have enough information to steal your identity.

Sooner or later, the scammers will request some sort of advance fee supposedly to cover administration, legal or delivery costs. At its core, this scam is just a reworking of the Nigerian loan fraud, in which scammers also eventually ask for upfront fees to facilitate the "deal". Like Nigerian scams, victims who do actually pay the requested fees will probably find that they receive continuing payment demands to cover "unexpected expenses". The requests for money will go on until the victim realizes what is happening or has no further money to send.

In some cases, the scammers give victims the option of opening an account at a particular bank as an alternative to paying upfront fees. However, this "bank" which is completely bogus, will insist on an initial deposit of $3000 as a requirement for opening the account. The fake bank will have a legitimate looking website to reinforce the scam. In other cases, the victim is given the option of travelling to an overseas destination and paying a cash fee to facilitate the release of the funds. However, any "winnings" released to the victim will be counterfeit and therefore worthless.

The details of the lottery scams vary regularly with regard to the name of the lottery itself, the country of origin, the sponsoring organization, the amount of the "prize" and other particulars. The scammers try to add a patina of legitimacy to their claims by mentioning real financial institutions, government departments or well-known companies. They may also provide links to slick looking, but fraudulent websites that are designed to back up information included in the scam emails. If the scammers are successful in establishing a dialogue with a potential victim, they may provide "proof" such as a scanned image of a supposed government official's ID and even photographs of the "winnings" in cash.

If you receive one of these scam emails, it is important that you do not respond to it in any way. The scammers are likely to act upon any response from those they see as potential victims. Although it can be educational and even entertaining to "bait" these scammers, such endeavours should only be attempted under controlled conditions. The people who run these scams are criminals and could even resort to violence and intimidation to meet their aims. You should delete the email without replying. Alternatively, you can forward the email to the address supplied on the FraudWatch International website for further investigation. http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/internetfraud

If you have supplied banking details, a large amount of personal information, and copies of your driver's licence and passport to the scammers, then you may become a victim of identity theft. For details on what to do, read the Help for Victims of Identity Theft article on the FraudWatch International website.

Unfortunately, there is probably very little you can do to recover any money you have already supplied. However, you should inform your local law enforcement agency as soon as possible. Also, take steps to protect your identity by reading the Help for Victims of Identity Theft article on the FraudWatch International website.

2006-07-17 07:33:50 · answer #1 · answered by chem_princess 4 · 1 0

I beleive it is a Scam they want somthing from you like information or your Money. Ask yourself this, did you sign up for the email lottery in Australian. If your answer is NO then it is something you should stay away from. Scam, Frauld, Fake you get the picture.

2006-07-14 02:33:38 · answer #2 · answered by Butz 3 · 0 0

No legitimate lotteries are done by email and countries that have lotteries require that you buy a ticket. Most also require that you be in country to buy and redeem a ticket.

These email lotteries; Australia, United Kingdom, etc. are frauds designed to separate you from your money when you try to cash in. Trash them when you get them.

2006-07-14 02:32:17 · answer #3 · answered by Seikilos 6 · 0 0

Never trust these lottery emails from Australia and UK. From Africa they send mails asking for your help in transferring lots of money out that country. These are all bogus and fake. They are out to make a fool of you and swindle you once they your bank account details etc. Just delete them. Never even open them.

2006-07-14 02:32:22 · answer #4 · answered by sunilbernard 4 · 0 0

It is a scam.
You cannot have an international lottery as the gambling laws differ in every country.
The scammers say it is "International" so as to cover every country.
If you want to check a email you think might be a scam go to www.scamomatic.com
Lotterys work like this:
1)10,000 people pay 1 dollar/euro/pound/yen....etc
The lottery company now has 10,000

2) the lottery company holds a draw and gives out 7,000 in winnings (and keeps the profit 3,000)

Scams work like this:
-1)nobody pays money (there is no money to win)

0)a scammer sends out 10,000 spam emails to tell people they have won a lottery they havn't entered.(they pretend they work for real lottery websites)

2)The Scammer asks for your Personal details (be prepared! your inbox is going to be full of emails asking for you personally...and dont get me started on what they are gonna do with your Bank details!)

3)The scammer tells you that you have to pay fees before you can accept the "winnings" (and NO,you cant pay out of the winnings! they dont exist!....silly maga)

4)The scammer manages to con 3 people out of 1000 and gives all his profits to a charity for orphaned goats (he dosn't really...he keeps it ;) )

5)Your inbox gets more mails than help@microsoft.com
Everything from "You have won anotther sooperdooperlottry" to "CHAN U B A NEXT OF KIN" to "Please join our company,cash our checks,send us the money until your bank realises you are laundering money for us?)

The moral of the story is...If it sounds too good to be true... It probably is

2006-07-14 02:29:12 · answer #5 · answered by Puppy Zwolle 7 · 0 0

my mum got the same thing bout 2 weeks ago and she lost so much money and my mums friend did it as well and lost money. dont trust it just delete it and oh but b4 you do email it to everyone you know telling them not to fall for it.

2006-07-14 02:31:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Your question is confusing, but it sounds like you probably recieved a phishing scam email.

2006-07-14 02:27:30 · answer #7 · answered by Jeff 3 · 0 0

it is scam, a fraud. and if i remember correctly, there is a US site that gives the right info on such internet scams.
Why don't you google it and then you can be sure...

2006-07-14 02:31:52 · answer #8 · answered by lena225 2 · 0 0

First think! How did they get your E-Mail? It’s a SCAM!!!!

2006-07-14 02:31:46 · answer #9 · answered by Ms Pollyanna 6 · 0 0

It is fake.

2006-07-14 02:27:59 · answer #10 · answered by Yahoo! Answerer 6 · 0 0

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