Ansett
19 January 2006, 08:58
A lot of people who reply to lotto scammers often feel stupid for doing so. You should not. These scammers know that everyone wants to win the lotto, and many people believe it is actually possible that they will win it one day.
Let's face it, most of us have won something in our lifetime. Lots of people have won things in free lotteries or raffle draws, which makes the scam plausible. But even in free draws, you have to enter. However sometimes you have recently entered a lottery which makes it even more plausible.
Over the past few days, Fraudwatchers has warned over 2,000 potential victims of just one lotto scam gang - the "Irish Lotto". Many of these people have replied to our warnings, and many of them gave their personal information to the scammers involved. Many of them have mentioned that they thought it was a scam.
Some of the victims have forwarded their correspondance with the scammers and almost all of those raised questions like "Is this a scam" "Why are the winning numbers different to the ones shown on the website for that date" "If I have won, why have you spelt "Claim" incorrectly, if this was legitimate surely you would know how to spell Claim". The link to the website given was to the actual website for the Irish Lottery, and many of the victims emailed the REAL lotto company asking about this scam, they have put a warning on their website now.
One reason why this scam is so successful is highlighted in the following article - You can read the original article here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060109/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_economy_wealth) -
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than one in five Americans believe the best way to get rich is to win the lottery, while 11 percent say inheriting money is the way to go, a survey showed on Monday.
Asked the most practical way to accumulate "several hundred thousand dollars," 21 percent chose winning the lottery, compared to 55 percent who thought saving something each month for many years was best, according to a survey by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association.
Three percent of those surveyed thought a big insurance settlement was the best way to become wealthy.
The poor were the most likely to say winning the lottery was the most practical way to gain wealth -- with 38 percent of those earning less than $25,000 a year choosing that option compared to just 9 percent of those earning $75,000 or more.
African Americans and those over the age of 65 were also more likely to believe winning the lottery was more practical than saving each month -- at 30 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation, said it was of "some concern" that so many people thought the lottery was their best chance at wealth.
"It appears that these Americans both greatly overestimate their chances of hitting a lottery jackpot and greatly underestimate their ability to build six-figure wealth by patiently making regular savings contributions over time that benefit from interest compounding," Brobeck said.
The survey of more than 1,000 adults also found only about half of Americans understand the meaning of personal wealth -- which includes financial assets plus home equity and other assets minus consumer debts -- and less than half know how much personal wealth they have.
Brobeck said the typical household had a net wealth of $100,000, mostly in home equity. About 5 percent had net wealth over $1 million, while nearly 1 in 10 households had zero net wealth -- meaning their debt exceeded their assets.
While financial planners believe about half of young Americans could accumulate $1 million over a period of 30 years, fewer than 1 in 10 of Americans believe they could save that much money, the survey showed.
"Planners know that it is easier for individuals to build personal wealth than they realise," said James Barnash, chair of the Financial Planning Association.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Let's face it, most of us have won something in our lifetime. Lots of people have won things in free lotteries or raffle draws, which makes the scam plausible. But even in free draws, you have to enter. However sometimes you have recently entered a lottery which makes it even more plausible.
Over the past few days, Fraudwatchers has warned over 2,000 potential victims of just one lotto scam gang - the "Irish Lotto". Many of these people have replied to our warnings, and many of them gave their personal information to the scammers involved. Many of them have mentioned that they thought it was a scam.
Some of the victims have forwarded their correspondance with the scammers and almost all of those raised questions like "Is this a scam" "Why are the winning numbers different to the ones shown on the website for that date" "If I have won, why have you spelt "Claim" incorrectly, if this was legitimate surely you would know how to spell Claim". The link to the website given was to the actual website for the Irish Lottery, and many of the victims emailed the REAL lotto company asking about this scam, they have put a warning on their website now.
One reason why this scam is so successful is highlighted in the following article - You can read the original article here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060109/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_economy_wealth) -
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than one in five Americans believe the best way to get rich is to win the lottery, while 11 percent say inheriting money is the way to go, a survey showed on Monday.
Asked the most practical way to accumulate "several hundred thousand dollars," 21 percent chose winning the lottery, compared to 55 percent who thought saving something each month for many years was best, according to a survey by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association.
Three percent of those surveyed thought a big insurance settlement was the best way to become wealthy.
The poor were the most likely to say winning the lottery was the most practical way to gain wealth -- with 38 percent of those earning less than $25,000 a year choosing that option compared to just 9 percent of those earning $75,000 or more.
African Americans and those over the age of 65 were also more likely to believe winning the lottery was more practical than saving each month -- at 30 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation, said it was of "some concern" that so many people thought the lottery was their best chance at wealth.
"It appears that these Americans both greatly overestimate their chances of hitting a lottery jackpot and greatly underestimate their ability to build six-figure wealth by patiently making regular savings contributions over time that benefit from interest compounding," Brobeck said.
The survey of more than 1,000 adults also found only about half of Americans understand the meaning of personal wealth -- which includes financial assets plus home equity and other assets minus consumer debts -- and less than half know how much personal wealth they have.
Brobeck said the typical household had a net wealth of $100,000, mostly in home equity. About 5 percent had net wealth over $1 million, while nearly 1 in 10 households had zero net wealth -- meaning their debt exceeded their assets.
While financial planners believe about half of young Americans could accumulate $1 million over a period of 30 years, fewer than 1 in 10 of Americans believe they could save that much money, the survey showed.
"Planners know that it is easier for individuals to build personal wealth than they realise," said James Barnash, chair of the Financial Planning Association.
The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.