is this letter about a so-called lottery winning legit?

Question

i recieved it in the mail yesterday.it looks real and even had a cashiers check from a national bank enclosed.in the letter it stated that i had won the lottory in a international drawing in sydny australia.there are no "IF`s" includet anywhere in the letter.i just think it is funny,that the postmark on the envelop was from canada,the lottery in canada and the check is from a bank in north carolina. do you think this could be for real.people tell me i should go ahead and put the money into an account anyway.theres no way i am gonna put that into my checking account,becauce that might give them unautherized access to it then.i just don`t trust many people,especielly when it sound to good to be true. what do you all think?oh they say that my part of the winnings is $125.000,00 and the check is in the amount of $2.900,00 wich is supposed to be to cover the taxes on the total payout of the winnings.

Answer 1

Look at the questions I have answered on this site in my info. There are so many winners there could not be enough money to pay them all.There is no International Lottery.This is a Nigeria scam. Yahoo/MSN, U.K. and Australian lotteries, football lotteries from the same counties, Global-Link, World Poverty, Microsoft, Free Lotto, which now seems to have it's own people answering gambling questions on this site claiming they have won which is a total lie, and hundreds more. I am a retired Police Officer that has years of experience investigating Internet scams and frauds. This is an old one. The common link to them getting your email is on line surveys. Yahoo does not give it's stock holders money away nor does it give it's email subscribers address's to lotteries. The only way to win in a lottery is to buy a ticket, if you didn't you could not possibly win. Here is the website of the 17 nation law enforcement task force that investigates cross border Internet crime. You may file a complaint there. www.econsumer.gov. Also go to www.ripoffreport.com and browse complaints and you will find many having the same doubts as yourself about these scams. Below is a typical scam and how they work it. They just go under a thousand different names. They are asking you to send a prepayment to collect your winnings and they want you to send it by a money wire service. Lotteries do not just pick your name out of thin air, and just so happen to have your email also. No Internet service provider gives their email list out to lotteries. If you did not pay to play you could not possibly win.

recieved letter of winning $65000.00 Pacific Player International lotteries,please contact claims agent miss linda strong at 204-951-7582. Second letter came with a check for the amount of $2,470.00 To deposited in my bank account for processing fee,a week later check cleared my bank. I contacted my claims agent over the phone she advise me to wire the balance of $2,341.00 to a Mr Edward Culwell in New York,New York.I called miss linda strong to advise her of the western union confirmation number,to date can not get in touch with linda strong just her voice mail, I know now that it was all a RIP-OFF and now Iam in the hole with $2,470.00 with my bank.... Please send HELP... THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Answer 2

I actually one hundred% assure this might properly be a scam. this type of scam has been doing the rounds considering the fact that a minimum of 2004 (see link under). Scammers have a habit of copying each and every others approaches! some use faux exams, some use stolen exams. yet the two way, whether you be ready to economic business enterprise the verify this is going to fail later and you lose the money returned - AND get charged expenditures. The verify is obviously designed to earnings your believe long adequate to extract funds from you for the common faux 'processing expenditures' or 'import taxes' or despite else they are in a position to think of of. You fortunately 'economic business enterprise' 3 or 4 thousand money, then they ask you for a pair of thousand back. No concern, you're nevertheless 2 up top..? till the verify you banked fails to clean... tell them you have given all the main significant factors over to the police to envision each and every thing is wonderful, and the police are actually monitoring and tracing all your calls - then see how briskly they postpone the telephone :-)

Answer 3

i cant say for sure but in the states the lottery will never mail u anything sayin you won and those are all scams to get to call so they can try to sell you stuff or just tryin to rip u off. if they ask for any kind of money to get your winnings its defently a scam

Answer 4

Your right you know you said the magic words "IF IT'S TO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT PROBABLY IS" this is a fraud and a scam if you didn't buy a ticket how can you win anything nobody just gives money away like that. tear it up and throw it away.