Have you ever woke up one morning, checked your emails and believed - even for a sec! - you've finally become a millionaire? Yes!!! How great would it be if we never had to enter any competitions but could still win all the prizes! In a nutshell, the best medicine against spam and scam is "think before you act". If it's too good to be true then there's most definitely a catch.
At the end of the day, all scams are the same. There is a bait - usually in the form of money reward, and there is a catch that you are going to be asked to be ripped off very kindly.... in the form of advance fees, administration fees, gesture of good faith, etc.... you get the idea! ;)
In order to protect yourself the best thing you have got to do in case you receive an email suggesting that you've won something from an unknown to you personally sender is not reply at all.
However, if you find it entertaining or for educational purposes and you do decide to answer, then please make sure you do not share any sensitive personal information with the scammer, such as bank account details, date of birth, passport number, etc. and most importantly do not make any payment whatsover.
However, if you find it entertaining or for educational purposes and you do decide to answer, then please make sure you do not share any sensitive personal information with the scammer, such as bank account details, date of birth, passport number, etc. and most importantly do not make any payment whatsover.
One thing you need to bear in mind is that once you pay them there is probably (that's a 99.9% probability!) very little you could do to recover the money. Yes, that's the stage where you need to admit to yourself: it's too late for all this now. I have been officially conned.
The UK National Lottery scam email looks as follows (quite professional I'd say... I have seen much worse - those Nigerian scams are the best, you know which ones I am talking about! When your help is needed to access that large amount of money that a deceased has left behind ....)
UK NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM (Customer Services)
ATTENTION: WINNER
This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of (£1,000,000.00) One Million Great British Pounds held on the 12th of October,2009 in London UK.
Contact our fiduciary agent for claims with:
Name:Mr.Marvel Mark
Tell: +447024039995
Email: mr.marvel.mark@live.com
Winning Parameters:
REF NO: UK 200-26937
BATCH NO: 2007MJL-01
Fill the below:1.Full. Name:_____2.Address:_____3.Marital Status:____4.Occupation:____5.Age:_____6.Sex:7:____8.Country of Residence:____9.Telephone Number:
Congratulations!!
Mrs.Christiana Criswell.
U.K ONLINE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
To help combat scammers please report any fraud email activity to the Fraudwatch International. A quick internet search will also help you identify the most popular email scams and you'll soon become a scammer savvy.
Good luck!
