A notice from the UK national lottery saying you won a lot of money? Did you try claiming your prize? What happened if you did? Was it a mistake going into it?
2007-03-14 07:09:58 · 19 answers · asked by nobody 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
Definitely a scam.
2007-03-14 07:13:05 · answer #1 · answered by thegregoryfamily 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Big mistake.
I actually did to something like that once. It was dumb of me to even try it. Luckily, I wised up quickly and only lost $200, which if I had been smarter and not so naieve and young I wouldn't have lost in the first place. Here's what happened.
You get all these official looking documents, etc. online. The guy wants your information on where you live, etc. so he can send the money, right. He then tells you that if you can't go there to get the money, they'll have someone act as proxy for you or something so they can send the money to you. Of course, this costs money. I think they want some redicuolous amount like $1500 or so. To be honest, I somewhat figured it was a scam here but I was pretty darn curious on what would happen(not to mention somewhat desperate and willing to "risk" it) and so here's where I lost the $200 (I talked them down to this--they're fine with it because they're stealing money and know you're a sucker anyway. Doing it for $200 is OK to them---easy stolen money). Then of course there's a second thing that ends up costing money. I didn't do this because by this time all of the red flags were getting pretty loud.
The thing is, if you ever win something for real, it's not going to cost you anything to get it. And if the email address (or any of the ones with this person's contacts) is really weird or if you "reply" but it doesn't deliver, you know it's bogus. Yes, I was young and absolutely stupid, but at least it wised me up some and hopefully will help others who may do the same sort of dumb thing. I would really look into it before I even gave any info. Talk to the bank, etc.
2007-03-14 07:35:36 · answer #2 · answered by Laurel W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like everyone else who already answered this said, I will repeat: It is a SCAM. You didn't win anything. I've gotten one from the UK, one saying I won the Irish lottery, and of course the infamous Nigerian one. The only legit lottery is the one that is state funded and you have to purchase a ticket. Period.
2007-03-14 07:18:37 · answer #3 · answered by *Cara* 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They ran a special on these scams on 60 minutes, revealing that most of these emails are run by fraud rings out of Africa. Eventually they will want you to send a little money to cover certain "fees" then it will be a little more and a little more, and people have ended up being frauded out of thousands of dollars. STAY AWAY! Other common emails are regarding the death of a prince or rich citizen, and now there next of kin needs help getting the money out of the country and he will help you, or saying that you were the beneficiary on someone's will. Again , stay away .... far far away, these are con artists and they send out thousands of these emails looking for bites all the time. The worst thing to do is respond.
2007-03-14 07:16:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
1. did you enter a UK lottery?
2. if so, did you give thme your email address?
3. if so, can you verify your winnings through the UK lottery's website or by phone?
If not, please assume this is a scam - not just to protect yourself, but an amazingly high number of people respond to spam. If we can cut their numbers and spam becomes less effective, spamming won't be as profitable and fewer wil ldo it.
2007-03-14 07:15:38 · answer #5 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I am positive that this is a scam. Did you ENTER the national lottery? If not, why would you win?
Did they ask you to send any money or info before they'll release your winnings? Scammers for sure.
Report them.
2007-03-14 07:14:08 · answer #6 · answered by kiwi 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
This is a scam. Go to snopes.com and search for UK lottery. Basically, if you didn't enter it, you can't win.
2007-03-14 07:14:45 · answer #7 · answered by soelo 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes, I got the e-mail but anytime someone is trying to give something away for free it usually means it is a scam. I would not trust them but if you try good luck I hope you are a true winner
2007-03-14 07:14:11 · answer #8 · answered by winter wonderland 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes! I received the same one! I printed it out and showed it to my boss. It's a total scam. I didn't have any problems after opening it, so you should be safe.
2007-03-14 07:13:57 · answer #9 · answered by Strawberryblonde 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes. I received it too. I knew it was a scam so I deleted it from my inbox.
2007-03-14 10:20:49 · answer #10 · answered by emaciated asian chick 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋