IS THIS A SCAM

[MITSI-PHIL]

hi folks, just found the site,any help appreciated,i recently recieved an e-mail to say i had won a sum of money 1500000USD in "INTER METRO ELECTRONIC LOTTO" based in south africa,with a ref no,batch no and serial no, any way the text went like this ,the paying agents are HI -FI FINANCE LIMITED ,if you cannot be here in south africa in person on the 28th of dec 2005,to collect your winnings we can arrange for a representitive to claim your prize and certificate for you,the e-mail from the rep went like this, i was contacted by hi-fi finance to represent you in claiming your prize please sign power of attorney attached and send 850 usd non resident tax before we can claim your cheque.

how big of a scam is this

[John Fairheart]

MITSI-PHIL, welcome to Fraudwatchers,

From what you have stated in your message I am 100% certain that the email you have received is a fake lottery scam.

The most important thing to remember is that you cannot win a lottery that you have never purchased a ticket for. Likewise any real lottery organisation would not ask for a fee prior to releasing any winnings. The request for a fee is the scam itself.

I am not able to find any specific references on the internet to the name of the lottery, but there many thousands of similar 'formats' being used. New ones do pop up on a very regular basis.

Under no circumstances should you communicate with the senders of the email, nor hand out any of your personal details. Naturally, as it is an attempt to defraud you of money, you should certainly not send the fee.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask, and our website is at your disposal for further information gathering.

You can find further information about fake lotteries via the following links here at FraudWatchers:-

A brief description of Lottery Fraud is here:-
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=255

A more in-depth view of a Lottery Fraud is here:-
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=229

We have some Lottery Fraud example emails here:-
http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39

If you wish to post the actual email you received (with the headers if possible) we will be able to make a much clearer analysis for you. Please remove any of your personal details from the email prior to posting.

Thanks for posting.

[MITSI-PHIL]

heres a link to the e-mail http://tinypic.com/iv8x09.jpg

[John Fairheart]

Thanks for the link.

The letter follows the same format as all the other fake lotteries we see daily. Here are some further details from the email itself.

"Winners lucky" <winners_winners5@hotmail.com>
Hotmail is a free webmail provider commonly used by scammers to ply their trade. No legitimate company would be using such a service to notify 'winners'. They would be doing it via a legitimate corporate email address.

Inter Metro Electronic Lotto
Once again, no specific information can be found about this 'Lotto'. This is actually a very good indicator that the name has simply been made up and no company exists with that name.

Reference Number: SEL-P-RY 44-7456W-9
Batch Number: 77-194-WAN
Serial Number: 215-18
These details have provided me with enough information to locate the same email you received via Google Groups (news.admin.net-abuse.sightings). You can view the other email containing "your" winning number [ here (http://groups.google.co.uk/group/news.admin.net-abuse.sightings/browse_thread/thread/39f35d0c0017ee21/2272831536c54220?lnk=st&q=%22SEL-P-RY+44-7456W-9%22&rnum=1#2272831536c54220) ]

Hi-Fi Finance Limited
Again, nothing specific about this company name. It has probably been made up.

bothamon@di-ve.com
di-ve.com is a Web Portal that provides free webmail. So this is similar to a hotmail account. And of course completely anonymous.

Tel: +27-730-828-566
Fax: +27-112-197-192
The telephone number is a South African Mobile phone. This will be anonymous and completely untraceable. The Fax number is in Johannesburg, South Africa, and will probably be a Fax to Email service. Again, completely anonymous.

I hope this brief analysis removes any doubt whastoever that the email is a scam.

Thanks for sharing the information with us.

[MITSI-PHIL]

thanks very much for your help,ye guys do a brilliant job,heres the address of the supposed agent wills@chambers'yahoo.com or williams a preey(esq) agent for HI FINANCE AGENCY&ASSOCIATES P.A,714 YALE RD,BRAAMFONTEIN,RANDBURG 2001 SOUTH AFRICA,also their european agent DANIEL SMITH,ALFREDDUBLINSTRAAT,1102SP,AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS,i hope we have put up enough info to help others so no-one will be taken in by these unscrupulous individuals.once again thanks.

[John Fairheart]

Thanks for all the information and kind words MITSI-PHIL, we are glad to help.

Every bit of information published could help someone avoid these nasties in the future.