how authentic is the UK national lottery? was advised winner of lotto for Oct draw and that i pay courier fee?

Question

they say they conducted a draw of 3million email address (sweepstakes) and am 1 of 6 winners .5m GBP

Answer 1

total Rip-off SCAM. 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.

Answer 2

These people are out to make a little money from a lot of people. Also once you have sent them a cheque or card number etc they can access your card or bank account as they will have all the information that they need. On top of that they get the "COURIER FEE".
A big scam so forget it and remember there is never anything given for nothing. If you haven't bought a draw ticket then you cannot win. If by some chance you have got a ticket then go to any shop that sells them and they can check if it is a winner on their terminal.

Answer 3

This is a SCAM.
Check out the below link for confirmation of various scams, including the famous Yahoo/MSN lottery scams and how to report them.
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/lotteryscam_Yahoo2.php
Unscrupulous thieves have sent you this email and they are trying to part you from your hard earned cash. They will often ask you to call a premium rate number and keep you holding on whilst you rack up a huge phone bill. They are then paid a large proportion of this phone bill. They may ask you to divulge personal information about yourself or ask for your bank or credit card details. Do not divulge any such information under any circumstances. It is surprising how many innocent victims have been duped by these types of emails. Just remember the thieves who send them are very clever and extremely convincing. I suggest you delete the email and send it into cyberspace, hopefully along with the thieving scumbags who send them.
Check out these sites for further information :
http://www.scambusters.com
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/

Answer 4

Its a scam.... our lottery is called lotto,

I had a similar notification, I found the actual number of the said courier company and contacted them first to see if they knew their name was being used, they didnt and i reported the email to the police

Answer 5

Sorry friend. If you did not buy a ticket remember this.You don't get anything for nothing, it's a scam do not answer do not give personal information.The following sites give more information. www.scambusters.org www.scambusters-419.co.uk The iinternet is safe enough if you are careful but please answer nothing that you are doubtful about.Good Luck and be careful.

Answer 6

I suppoused everybody knows it is scam already.sometimes they ask for your account number and other information for take yor money,others they send a fake check.

for each 15 person that recieve the letter 1 fall for it.

Answer 7

I have had several of these from home and abroad - never bought a ticket so I know its not for real SCAM

Answer 8

It's a scam, don't fall for it. The only way you could have won is if you had bought a ticket.

Answer 9

the real lottery you dont pay a fee for a courier.
if its big money they invite you to pick it up from their offices in tolpits lane, watford. & they pay for you to get their.

i suspect your notification is a scam

Answer 10

Totally authentic - BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE BOUGHT A TICKET FROM A SHOP HERE!!!!!!!!!!!



Its a scam.