Is this a lottery scam?

[Unregistered]

Hi!

My relative've got a letter about prize from EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY, but i'm afraid it is fake. They informed us to fax personal detail and bank detail. What should I do? Could you help me to verify this is lottery scam or not? And I'd like to know how is the true letter (about prize from EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY)

FROM THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR AVDA DON ANFOSO
PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT 15 CP/23079 MADRID SPAIN
REF NO……………. TEL:+34 678 925 675

ATTENTION:……Name…………â₠¬Â¦Ã¢â‚¬Â¦.

RE: AWARD NOTIFICATION FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you of the release of the results of EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM held on the 25th NOVEMBER 2005.

Your name attached to lucky ticket number 910-52 with 2 stars number 6-2 which consequently won the lottery in 6th category. You are therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of €310,559.00 (THREE HUNDRED AND TEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE EUROS) in cash credited to file REF No:………… AND SECURITY PIN CODE No:……………… This is the total cash prize of €50,000.000 (FIFTY MILLION EUROS) was shared among the 161 international winners in this category.
CONGRATULATIONS

Your fund is now deposited with a security company insured with your name. Due to the mixed up of some numbers and names, you were lucky to be among the winners that belong to 6th category of the lottery. We ask that you should keep this award from public notice until your claim has been processed or until your money has been remitted into your nominated account. As part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this program by participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 6000 names from Asia, Australia, New-Zealand, Europe, North America, Canada, And Africa, as part of our international promotion programs, which we conduct every year. Enclosed is a processing form to fill and fax to your agent.

To begin your lottery claim fund, a photocopy of your identity tel. and fax. Numbers is required. Please contact your claims agent, foreign operation manager MR.FRANCISCO BANDERAS. OF PREVENTIVA SEGUROS COMPANY, S.A. TEL:0034 617 735 682 FAX: 0034 646 314 295 E-MAIL: (preventivaseguros@zwallet.com) For processing and remittance of your prize money to your designated account of your choice, Remember the dead line for this final notice is 20th JAN 2006, After this date, All funds shall be returned to the ministry de Economic y hacienda as unclaimed.

Note: you are to be responsible for the transfer charges, in order to avoid unnecessary delays, If there will be any change of address or any thing e.t.c. do inform your claim agent. Please remember to quote your reference numbers and security pin code in every correspondence with your agent.

[Aeval]

Welcome to Fraudwatchers!

The letter you posted is indeed a scam. If you Google the reference number present in the letter, you will see that the very same letter is being sent to many other people on the internet.

For a quick intro on lottery scams, please visit this link:

http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=255

What should you and your relative do? Cease all communication with the scammer, and under no circumstances send any documents to them. This goes especially strong for identification documents (passports, driver's licenses etc) and bank account information.

Remember, you cannot win a lottery you did not enter in the first place.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask them here.

[Unregistered]

More questions

As you informed me that it is lottery scam, but i suspect why relative recieved this letter from foreign country not by internet. Moreover he told me that his son has bought EURO Lottery. Is it possible that letter is true?

[Aeval]

No Ma'am, this letter is a scam, regardless of which way it was received. And here's why:

The fact that your relative has actually purchased an Euromillions ticket has nothing to do with the letter you posted. It's simply a coincidence.

The email address given in the body of the message is a free webmail service. No official lottery uses free email accounts to communicate with potential winners.

Another sign that this is a scam is that the phone number provided in the letter is a Spanish mobile phone. No official lottery uses mobile phones for their business.

Please note the horrid English that the letter is written in. Does this look like professional communications from an official body?

There is actually a lottery called Euromillions, but the letter that you posted has quite certainly not originated from them. For your information, in order to claim the prize in the Euromillions lottery, one needs to personally present the winning ticket. There are no charges, or so called "advance fees" or payments associated with claiming the lottery winnings.

Note: you are to be responsible for the transfer charges, in order to avoid unnecessary delays

As you can see, the letter states clearly that there will be "transfer charges" connected with the claim of the winnings. Those "transfer charges" can often run into hundreds of Euros and are often requested to be delivered by Western Union.

Also, it is the owner of the ticket that has to get in touch with the lottery, not the other way around. The lottery does not know who exactly purchased the winning ticket and thus they have no way of getting in touch with the winner.

Also please note, that the entire letter is written in a way that makes the recipient think they should hurry to claim the winnings. This is another typical scammer tactic, as victims who are rushing to claim their nonexistent winnings often do not see the telltales of fraud in such letters.

We ask that you should keep this award from public notice

Asking the victim to keep things secret is very common in lottery scams. Scammers are afraid that the victim will show the correspondence to someone who has more knowledge of scams, and thus they ask the victim to be secretive about their winnings.

Further, this message was posted by the Canadian police this September:

THIS IS THE CALGARY POLICE SERVICE WITH A PACT MESSAGE

Please be advised that a number of area residents have received a scam letter from an organization named “EuroMillions”. In the letter they claim that you have won a significant amount of money and that in order to claim your prize, you must fill out and return the accompanying documentation. This is a reminder to never provide your banking or personal information to anyone and to report any such incidents to the police.

It is very important to understand that once your relative turns over his\her personal data, that data will be out in the world, traveling from scammer to scammer and being used either to scam other victims and\or for other illegal purposes.

I would suggest that you invite your relative to join our board. Should your relative not speak English, we have team members here who speak many languages.

It's a scam. Pure and simple.

[Peter van Huys]

Many many people receive fake lottery scams every day. Many people buy lottery tickets. These two facts are uncorrelated. People buying lottery tickets will receive scam letters just like all others. I understand it can be confusing if you actually are playing a lottery and then receive a scam letter. The letter you posted is a typical example of such a scam letter - like Mata Hari pointed out.
If you ever win a true lottery the lottery organisation will not come looking for you. You will have to present yourself with the winning ticket. And they will pay out the prize money without asking for fees first. ;)

[Unregistered]

Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I will tell my relative to stop communication with those scammer and don't send any information to them.

[Aeval]

That's the spirit!

Please do let us know if you need any more assistance. We are more than happy to help you out.:)

[Unregistered]

Dear Mata,

My relative asked me that, if his book bank haven't money and he provide bank account detail to a scammer. What's happend with him?

[Aeval]

First, he will be giving his bank account information to scammers. The following things can happen:

1. If your relative has a line of credit extended to him by his bank, the scammers can tap into that easily with the bank account information.

2. The information he gives to the scammers can be used by the scammers to transfer money through your relative's account, thus creating a very nasty situation for him of being an accomplice. Should the law enforcement start tracking those scammers down, it will be your relative who will bear the consequences. At the very least, he will have to explain to the law enforcement how his bank account got involved into the scam, and the law enforcement may not take his word for it.

3. The scammers can use your relative's bank account information to produce forged checks. Those can be used to scam other victims, not necessarily through lottery scams.

In this day and age, we all are forced to guard our personal information. Giving such details out to anyone just for asking is a recipe for a disaster.

If your relative has already given the bank information out, it would be in his\her best interest to notify his bank of the scam and immediately close the bank account.

[clyle1]

I received a sweepstakes clearinghouse prize award directive with credit vouchers saying that I can send the vouchers in for $400 off the prize,but then I would have to send them the rest of the amount by credit card or check.I need to know if this is a scam.

[Dodobird]

I received a sweepstakes clearinghouse prize award directive with credit vouchers saying that I can send the vouchers in for $400 off the prize,but then I would have to send them the rest of the amount by credit card or check.I need to know if this is a scam.

Hello clyle, receiving a prize should never involve paying fees in order to get the prize. It's a scam.;)