I keep getting these emails from "The UK lottery" or something to that effect.. What the hell? Is anyobody else getting these? Is it some kind of scam? Someone tell me what's going on.
2007-03-24 17:12:00 · 14 answers · asked by Nickey b 2 in Games & Recreation ➔ Gambling
There are many Nigerian scams that are showing up nowadays. Please read the following carefully:
Another new popular scam is the lottery scam:
There is no 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!
2007-03-24 22:20:25 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
A typical lottery scam begins with an unexpected email notification that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery. The recipient of the message--the target of the scam--is usually told to keep the notice secret, "due to a mix-up in some of the names and numbers," and to contact a "claims agent." After contacting the agent, the target of the scam will be asked to pay "processing fees" or "transfer charges" so that the winnings can be distributed, but will of course never receive any lottery payment. Many email lottery scams use the names of legitimate lottery organizations, but this does not mean the legitimate organizations are in any way involved with the scams. Email lottery scams are a type of advance fee fraud
2007-03-24 17:16:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would say that it's a scam. Don't reply to it, it's a way to get your e-mail address or some other kind of information from you so they can send you more and more scams of the like. Whatever you do, do not answer the e-mails. Don't open them even. Just delete them. If it gets worse, maybe you should delete your account and start fresh with a new account.
2007-03-24 17:17:09 · answer #3 · answered by marcus aurelius 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just you your god given common sense, how could you win something that you didn't even play? It's a total scam and they just want your bank account information. The real Lottery is way too hard to win (odds are like 120 million to 1) and these clowns send you something on a daily basis telling you that you've "won". Delete that garbage as soon as you see it.
2007-03-24 18:31:17 · answer #4 · answered by Pancho 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
It's a scam. Just delete the emails.
2007-03-24 17:15:42 · answer #5 · answered by nicole_c_mcgray 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Scam. Delete and forget.
2007-03-24 23:52:41 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a scam. They just want you to join so they can get the $25 a month from you too.I get about two a day.
2007-03-24 17:15:05 · answer #7 · answered by madbaldscotsman 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes its a scam. I get them all of the time. Just delete them and never give them any personal info.
2007-03-24 17:15:22 · answer #8 · answered by lucy02 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's a scam. Delete.
2007-03-24 17:15:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, lots of people are getting those. Don't reply, or fall for this scam......what they want you to do, is send THEM money, for fees, etc.
2007-03-24 17:21:41 · answer #10 · answered by rocketgirl 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋