Michael Pilgrim is the Customer Relations Director of Overseas Subscribers Agents, as well as Editor in Chief of the OSA Newsletter. So we decided - since it must be done anyway, might as well have some fun with it. For every new post we make, we will be poking fun at how silly some of these scams are ... feel free to join us in the Comments section!
This email - which shows all the characteristics of a typical lottery scam - was received from the email address swisslottopromodirector@aol.es:
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SWISS LOTTERY E-MAIL AWARD
National Office,
Plaza Juan Carlos C-14541,
28014 Madrid Spain.
https://www.swisslotto.ch
CONGRATULATIONS!!!.....YOU HAVE WON €850,000 Euros
You have been awarded €850,000.00 euros in the SWISS LOTTO satellite software email lotto promotional program in which email addresses are picked randomly by Software powered by the internet through the worldwide web.
Your email address was among those chosen in the SWISS LOTTO satellite software email lotto promotion. And this promotional program is proudly sponsored by SWISS LOTTO ORGANIZATION ESPANA .
Your email address, attached to ref number 7-19-16-66-5-10-9 with serial number 1977-67 drew the lucky numbers 10, and consequently won the lotto in the first category. You are therefore been approved for a lump sum payment of €850,000.00 euros.
Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European representative office in Europe in view of this, your €850,000.00 euros will be processed and released to you by our fiduciary agent located in Europe. Our European agent will immediately commence with the process to facilitate the release of your lotto winning prize as soon as you contact them.
All participants were selected randomly from World Wide Web through computer draw System and extracted from over 750,000,000 companies and individual email addresses world Wide.
This promotional program takes place annually. We advice that you keep your winning details confidential till your claim is processed and your lotto winning prize remitted to you. This is part of our policy measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
To file for your claims please contact your fiduciary agent with the details as stated below.
................................................
MR. CARLOS ALFREDO
Tel: 0034 63-418-3910
Fax: 0034 911-849-984
Email: swisslottofiduciaryagent@aol.es
Fiduciary Agent.
.................................................
You are to provide the details as stated below
1. Name:
2. Address:
3. Marital Status:
4. Age:
5. Sex:
6. Nationality:
7. Country of Residence:
8. Occupation:
9. Telephone Number:
10. Fax Number:
11. Lucky Number:
..................................................
These details facilitate the processing and the remittance of your lotto winning prize to avoid unnecessary delays and complications in the processing of your prize and always remember to quote your reference, serial and lucky number in any correspondences with your fiduciary agent.
Congratulations from all members and staff of this promotional program, we also thank you for being part of our program this year.
Sincerely,
Mr. Lucas Gerardo
PROMOTION DIRECTOR
NOTE: If at any time you have questions, concerns or comments, please contact us as we strive to ensure that you will always receive a prompt and courteous attention.
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See the Next Scam >>>
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Yahoo Awards Center
BRITISH MICROSOFT E-MAIL SELECT AWARD FROM HEAD OFFICES LONDON.
British Microsoft Award
Headquarters: Customerservice
33 Yatch Basin Marina Office,
UponTyne Newcastle London
Attn:Winner
Your email address have just won a Yahoo cum Windows live prize money of (ONE MILLION BRITISH POUNDS STERLING) (GBP£1,000,000.00) today 8th April,2008.
Award winners emerge through random selection of all active email subscribers online. Six are selected monthly to benefit from this promotion.
PAYMENT OF PRIZE AND CLAIM
Winners are to be paid in accordance with his/her Settlement Centre. This Prize Award must be claimed in not later than 15 days from date of draw notification after which unclaimed prizes are cancelled.
WINNER NO: 2
These are your identification numbers:
BATCH NUMBER:MFI/07/APA-43658
REFERENCE NUMBER: 2007234522
AWARD WINNING NO: 2
These numbers fall within the South African file.Thus, you are requested to contact our fiduciary agent in Johannesburg and send your winning identification numbers to him:
CONTACT OUR AGENT:MR.FANA BALOYI
UNITED KINGDOM MICROSOFT AWARD REPRESENTATIVE AGENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
6115 LILIAN ROAD, FORDSBURG, 2092
P O BOX 906171
MARSHALL TOWN 2107
Johannesburg, South Africa
PHONE NUMBER :+27730654171
FAX NUMBER:+27866196582
Email:kntctme@live.com
Kindly send the following information to your claim agent to facilitate the release of your fund.
1. Full Names:
2. Date of birth:
3. Sex:
4. Marital status:
5. Nationality:
6. Contact Address:
7. Telephone Number:
8. Next of kin:
9: Occupation
Congratulations!! once again.
Yours in service,
Dr.(Mrs)Felicia Dan
NOTE
You are hereby advised not to disclose the content of this Prize Award until your money have been remitted to you to avoid disqualification that will arise from dual claim.
Best Regard,
DR. Felicia Dan (Mrs)
Lottery Board Director.
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What do YOU make of these scams? Let us know in the Comments section!
And please remember - while some scams may be funny- many are definitely not. Lottery scams have hurt countless victims on various continents, so please be vigilant.
To view other lottery scams, visit OSA's Scamwatch blog at http://blog.osalotteries.com.