How does it feel to win millions of dollars through
lottery ? Specially when you never bought the lottery
ticket or ever heard about it before ?
Open your mailbox and whoa ! - the message informing
you of your good fortune is there. The subject line
looks like:
'Winning Notification' or 'Congratulations ! You
are a lotto winner' or simply 'Notification'
Let that excitement not fudge your left brain (logical
thinking) - why should anyone in right frame of mind
offer you such huge sum ? And you may not know - many
others have received the same message (or spam to
be more exact) at the same time.
The messages may be sent by different people, from
different continents and by different organizations
- but strangely the content remains same for all.
99% of people will reject the mail and reach for
'Del' key - but there's 1% who may feel otherwise.
What is Internet Lottery Scam
It is a con game where fraudsters send false messages
through telephone, e-mail, fax or postal mail, indicating
the recipient has won major cash prize. The message
is so cleverly drafted and makes such skillful use
of established names and Internet links of lawful
lotteries - that even an alert person can get confused.
How Does the Scam work
The modus operandi is very simple - the respondents
are asked to pay an up-front fee to secure the release
of the prize. Sometimes the prizes include a series
of lottery numbers with a chance to win an expensive
vehicle or vacation cruise. Typically, persons who
send money for these prizes never receive them and,
instead, receive only various forms of entry confirmation
issued by the con artists.
Fraudsters use techniques similar to legitimate lottery
agents. They are courteous, well-spoken and issue
documents of genuine appearance.
These con artists have defrauded thousands of people
in Canada, USA, UK and many other European countries.
What About Genuine Internet Lotteries
I have already described how you stand to loose from
bogus lottery tickets. However, even if you play a
genuine lottery in the Internet - please take note
of following facts
- It's illegal to play a foreign lottery - through
the mail or on the telephone or Internet.
- You may be playing in the hands of unscrupulous
lottery agents. By buying just one foreign lottery
ticket, you've opened the door to many more bogus
offers for lottery or investment "opportunities."
Your name will be added to "sucker lists"
that fraudulent telemarketers buy and sell.
- Don't share your credit card and bank account
numbers. Scam artists often ask for them during
an unsolicited sales pitch, and then use them to
commit other frauds against you.
My advice - ignore all mail and phone solicitations
for foreign lottery promotions.
