Is this an internet scam?

Question

I was wondering, if this could be real. I beleive it's a scam. I was sent an email stating I had just won an over seas lottery. I never heard of such a thing...Are these people for real?>>>>>The National Lottery Board
Home Office:L70 1NL Liverpool,
P. O. Box 1010, UNITED KINGDOM Please give me your advice. Wouldn't it be so nice if something finally wasn't a scam?

Answer 1

I agree with you, it would be nice, but this is a scam. I have got countless emails such as this and they are all variations of an age old scam! There is no National Lottery Board, Overseas Lottery International, YAHOO & MSN Lotteries, Yahoo online dept., UK (United Kingdom) Lottery, Netherlands Lottery, British Lottery, Thunderball Online Lottery in the UK, Australian Lottery, Spanish Lottery, Yahoo Lottery Microsoft Lottery (emmulating from the UK or anywhere else) or any other form of lottery you can win without buying a ticket. While some people might only copy and paste such email to their answer with a brief take on it, I will go into detail because I'm tired of this trash, as several of my friends have lost their a$$es to this scam. This is about as far away from legitimate as anything can get, whether it be a contest, promotion, or whatever.

There exists a certain form of immoral degenerate that trolls the internet searching for suckers who believe that they have gotten very lucky and won a lottery which they have never entered. They will probably entice you to send an advance fee to claim your non-existant winnings and if you do send this money, you can kiss it goodbye. The money will likely be en-route to Nigeria, a cesspool of fraud that has been the center of these types of fraud over the last few decades.

The best thing to do is to delete such emails immediately and to never reply to them. If you even reply, you risk having your email inbox flooded. If you call these people, expect to be harrassed over the phone at all hours of the night! In some cases, people who travel to claim their winnings in Nigeria are taken hostage, and in worse-case scenarios are killed when whoever is paying ransom payments exhausts their money supply. If anything online sounds to good to be true it always is buddy.

By the way, I have kind of become an anti-scam activists due to the fact that I have many friends who have had their identities and life savings stolen from them via these methods.

This is simply advance fee fraud (a prevalent type of fraud which continously asks for money to cover unforseen expenses) and is intended to drain your bank account, promising money that simply does not exist. Hopefully, this answers your question.

If you have any more questions, do a yahoo search on lottery scams, nigeria 419 scams, internet fraud, or advance fee fraud. You can also read more about this at www.secretservice.gov and www.419eater.com!

If you have lost money you should report it to the U.S. Secret Service at www.secretservice.gov

Now you know the basics of Advance Fee Fraud, a multi-million dollar industry that costs honest people their life savings everyday. Be happy you weren't duped by this scam!

I hope this is helpful, because I could sure use a best answer! I would appreciate it!

Answer 2

Scam

Answer 3

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 4

I was just sent one myself. Yes it would be nice if it were not a scam. I received a check from Australia and wanted to make sure I didn't lose it so deposited it in my bank account. It was drawn on Wellsfargo so I thought it was real. The teller did also so she gave me a cash advance of allotted $300. Turned out it wasn't accurate and I pd back bank the $300. but they refused to let me cash any more checks or use my debit card after that. Because they refused to believe I wasn't a part of it.

Answer 5

I'll bet they want you to send them money for handling charges. I got one from England once that said I won $2,000,000, but I needed to send them $600 to insure the check. I told him I would give him $1,000,000 to pay it for me. You know if they didn't take that deal it was a scam.
Check Google - under 'scams' - there are all kinds listed from United Kingdom.

Answer 6

It would be nice & unfortunately this is not one of those times. It's a scam.

Answer 7

You have to asked yourself this question,when was I ever in Liverpool,England,then you will know if it's a scam.

Answer 8

All of that stuff is a scam. U most likely signed up for something and gave them your email now they are sending u alot of trash.

Answer 9

Give me a hundred dollars and your bank account number, and I will make sure it is not a scam. Make sure you don't tell anyone either because we would not want to have multiple winners........

Answer 10

I dont know.