Today I received an email apparently purporting to be from the “The UK. Natioal Lottery” (I think they meant “National”). However, I didn’t pick up that it was a scam immediately from the subject and name (I didn’t spot the obvious spelling error immediately). Normally that sort of thing would have raised my suspicions immediately. However, not today. Today is the last EuroMillions lottery before Christmas. Normally I don’t normally enter the lottery at all. I pay a pound a week to the office syndicate and that is it. But I do enter the lottery at Christmas time for a bit of a laugh. I know the odds are stacked heavily against me which is why I only enter once per year.
Back to the scam. There are a number of things that you can look out for in a scam email. Bad spelling is just one of those things. But there are cultural markers too.
However, there are some things that make it seem genuine. The address is given as “The U.K. National Lottery, Online Lottery Promo Dept., Customer Service., PO Box 1010, Liverpool, L70 1NL United Kingdom.” and if you look on the internet you’ll see that this is, more or less, the real address.
The date of notification is one the date of a lottery draw. It talks about an online lotto draw. And Friday’s draw is indeed an internet draw.
It gave some results numbers, presumably to make it appear genuine.
Luckily there are pointers to show that it is a fake.
For a start the email arrived before the actual draw took place.
Next it talked about “online lotto draw” – but Friday’s draw is the “EuroMillions” draw.
It also said the draw was “conducted from an exclusive list of 50,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet.” Why would it pick email addresses from the internet? You have to pay to enter a lottery draw. You don’t just get entered randomly.
It goes on to tell you your prize – and if you read the National Lottery’s real guide they will tell you that they will never tell you that you’ve won in an email, let alone the actual prize amount.
When it talks about money it says “Great British Pounds” but it isn’t a term I’ve ever heard used. There is of course the standard abbreviation “GBP” that is used in text only financial systems but if you were to say the name of the currency in full in a formal document you’d give it the proper title. (“Pounds Sterling” – if you didn’t already know)
Then there is some fluff about the history of the prizes giving various fake names such as the “Big Game Mega Millions”. Curiously the amounts it gives as highest and lowest historical winnings are wildly out. Obviously the person putting together the scam didn’t do enough research.
They then tell you that “For security reasons, be advised to keep your winning information from public notice until your claims is processed and your prize money remitted to you as required in this grand category “B’ terms and conditions of claims. This is a part of our precautionar y measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by non winners.”. So more bad spelling, punctuation and even American spelling to show this one up. The more interesting thing here is that “for security reasons” don’t tell anyone about this until we’ve scammed you. Nice!
Then it goes on to tell you how to contact “Phil Smith” to process your claim. E-mail: ph_smith@post.com
For more information about how to spot fraudulent emails purporting to be from the UK National Lottery look at this guide to spotting a fake from the National Lottery website. They also tell you in the FAQ on the site what the actual procedure for making a claim is.
Bottom line is, if you didn’t enter a lottery, then you can’t win it. As the advert for the real National Lottery goes “You’ve got to be in it to win it!”
For your delight and reading pleasure here is the full text of the email:
The U.K. National Lottery Online Lottery Promo Dept. Customer Service. PO Box 1010 Liverpool L70 1NL United Kingdom. Date of Notification: 22-12-2006 Ref N0: KPL/09-002/JA. Attn: Winner. We happily bring to your notice the results of the U.K. National Lottery annual draw held on the 20th December 2006 in London. The online lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 50,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer search from the internet. Congratulations! Your e-mail address attached to the Batch N0:P2/0056 with Serial number: 06/1055 drew 20th of December 06 [5] [11] [13] [17] [14] [48] [25], which subsequently won you a prize in the category "B". You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of ?1,500,000.00 (One Million , Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds) in cash credited to file Ref N0: KPL/09-002/JA. This prize is from a total cash prize of ?4,500,000.00 (Four Million, Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds) shared amongst the first Three (3) lucky winners in this grand category 'B'. This year Lottery program Jackpot is the largest ever for the UK National Lottery. The estimated ?35,000,000.00 (Thirty Five Million Great British Pounds) jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in the U.K. history next year (2007). The Lowest was the ?4,000,000.00 (Four Million Great British Pounds) jackpot that was shared between Four (4) lucky winners in January 2005 draw of the Big Game Mega Millions' predecessor. For security reasons, be advised to keep your winning information from public notice until your claims is processed and your prize money remitted to you as required in this grand category "B' terms and conditions of claims. This is a part of our precautionar y measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by non winners. Please note that, your lucky winning number: [5] [11] [13] [17] [14] [48] [25] falls within our European Booklet representative office in London as indicated in our play Coupon. In view of this, your ?1,500,000.00 (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds) would be released to you by our affiliate bank. Our approved agent, Mr. Phil Smith will immediately commence on the processing of your claims, to facilitate the release of your Winnings to you as soon as you make contact with him. Please be advised as follows: To file for your claim, kindly contact our certified and accredited claims agent with the information below: *********************************************** Name: Phil Smith E-mail: ph_smith@post.com Claims processing agent For: The U.K National Lottery. *********************************************** You are advised to provide him with the following information: Names: Telephone/Fax number: Nationality: Age: Occupation: Note that, all claims processes and clearance procedures must be duly completed early to avoid impersonation and or double claiming. To avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please quote your Reference and Batch numbers in any correspondences with our designated agent. Congratulations once more from all members and staff of the UK National Lottery Promo. Yours Faithfully, Mrs. Patricia Spencer. Online Co-ordinator UK National Lottery Promo
NOTE: This entry was rescued from the Google Cache. The original date was Saturday, 23rd December, 2006
Here are the original comments for this entry:
i just got that e-mail, i had mixed views on it i thought it was to good to be true but also thought that maybe it was the real thing, so i went searching anyway this information was easy to find now i know its a fake, any1 out there plzz don’t get involved in it.
That guys thinks that everyone is a fool. I receive the same letter today. Thanks God we can search to find information like these.
We have to be carefully on these days of such frauds.
Queen fron El Salvador
I got too.
what is this e.mail?
it,s a fake?
plz tell me more.
thanks a lot.
Additional: I was actually surprised that people commented thanking me for telling them it was a fake. I would have thought it was obvious. But I guess not, which is why many people still get taken in by this kind of thing.
Just remember the golden rule: If it sounds too good to be true it most probably is.
scam
The Blog of Colin Mackay 
Hi,I too received this e-mail What a fake!!!The National LotteryPO Box 1010Liverpool L70 1NLUnited Kingdom Dear lucky winner, CONFIRMATION OF WINNING ENTRY Please be informed that I am in contact receipt of your winning EMAIL ID , let me formally introduce my self I am Mr. Oliver Olsen your fiduciary agent been approved for your winnings notification that has been sent to you today , more so you may wonder how come this email got to you , but it will interest you to know that your email identity was selected on our RRS DRAW , where active email account users are selected worldwide , and with great luck on your side , your email address happens to fall between the winnings ball number of 5-5-5-8, , that was attached to a ticket number uk25487 ,and as such subsequently won the online game promo of THE UNITED KINGDOM LOTTERY 2007 , so in other to file for your legitimate claims of your winnings you are required to provide me with these information which will be attached to your BATCH/SERIAL number for future reference .The information? is as follow NAME ADDRESS NATIONALITY COUNTRY AGE OCCUPATION IDENTITY CARD (if available ) Once this requirement are submitted , your information? will be sent to the verification unit of our committee and further instructions on how to claim will be passed on to you , It is with great privilege I congratulate you once again on your lucky selection and also await your response towards the provision of your information? for claim Sincerely yours, Oliver Olsen
I was nearly taken in by this cruel scam. It was when I recieved the latest email from the courier asking me to pay money for my winnings to be sent and no pod ! like I was going to send something like £480 for something I had no solid proof except for a few emails ? think not. SO Mr Fernando Walker promo lottery UK …you are a very sad individual who tries to take money from people…..and Im being polite !
I received one also. too good to be true so went on search.However do you know what the purpose is? UK NATIONAL LOTTERY The National Lottery P O Box 1010Liverpool, L70 1NLUNITED KINGDOM (Customer S ervices)Ref: UK/9420X2/68Batch: 074/05/ZY369Fax :+(44) 870 4714089 WINNING NOTIFICATION 2007Millions are Affiliate of UNITED KINGDOM (UK).Sir/Madam,CONGRATULATIONS: YOU WON -£750,000.00.We happily announce to you the results of draw of the UK NATIONAL LOTTERY,Online Sweepstakes International program held 2007. It is yet to be unclaimed and you are getting the FINAL NOTIFICATION as regards this.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of a prize of £750,000.00 per winner. This lucky draw came first in the 2nd Category of the Sweepstake.You are to contact your claims agent with informations below for further verification and payment of your winning.SIR THOMAS CHESSEMAIL: claimsoffice212@aim.comTEL : +44(0)704-571-4128PLEASE FILL OUT THE VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.NAME:ADDRESS:AMOUNT WON:EMAIL:COUNTRY:PHONE NUMBER:AGE:OCCUPATION:INDICATE PREFERRED MODE OF PRIZE COLLECTION: (A).Bank transfer Services? (B).Use Courier Service ?Congratulations in advance.Yours Faithfully,Mrs. Hannah Jack Williams.Online Coordinator: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY
@gee It is a form of advanced fee fraud. The victim get suckered into making a claim, then they (the scammers) say they need some money to process the claim. The victim, being a greedy bugger, will readily pay up because they are thinking of the large cash prize they are about to receive. It has been well publicised.In short: if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is too good to be true.Also: You can’t win a lottery you didn’t enter.
I got it. How lucky I am. Unfortunately, I never dream to win the lottery. Should I proper to win it? Just claim something that you proper to claim.thanks
Ugh…. I almost e-mailed a copy of my driver License (shaking my head).They sent me this letter – The National Lottery P O Box 1010 Liverpool,L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOMRef: UK/9420X2/68Batch: 074/05/ZY36925/04/2008………….., How are you doing today? I am in receipt of your mail and I must say that you should count yourself extremely lucky to have emerged as one of our winners in this year’s lucky dip sweepstakes. your email address was randomly selected along with others from over 125,600 website on the internet, each email address was attached to a ticket number and your email address was selected along with 5 others as winners. You have finally been verified and your Winning Items and your Details has been saved in Database. In reference to your Winning Items, it would be delivered to you by our affilate courier company which is the only trusted courier company capable of handling such a vital Package as yours, as they have been under a contract with us for quite some time now and they have been responsible for the delivery of Items from our Sponsors to us and our Winners. Below are the Items that would be delivered to you: 1. A Uk National Lottery Promotional Certificate2. 2 Uk National Lottery Promotional T-Shirt3. A Uk National Lottery Promotional Face Cap4. A certifed cheque of 1, 000 000GBP (One Million Great British Pounds) You are to Contact the Courier Company to pick up your Package from our office to be delivered to your given Location. Note that the Lottery Board would only be responsible for the issuing and dispatch of your Winning Items to the courier and would not be responsible for any delivery charges incured as any delivery charges would be settled by you. Here is their contact details; Identification Number …………….Name of Courier: ELITE SHIPPING SERVICEDispatch Officer: David FlecherEmail: eliteshipping_servicecourier@hotmail.com Have it in mind that your won prize cannot be deducted from; this is because the total amount has been insured to the real value. This is in accordance with section 13(1)(n) of the national gambling act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3RD July 1996 by the Constitutional Assembly this is to protect Winners and to avoid misappropriation of Funds. It should be imperative that you add your Identification Number {………….} as the subject matter of any correspondence with the courier company to ensure they respond in a timely manner as you have an Urgent Parcel which must be delivered before Liquidation Period. You are advised to Attach a copy of your recent Identification (Driving License or Passport) when sending the Courier an email as this would be use to identify you on delivery. We will require a Concise Update on proceedings with the firm after contact. If you need any assistance whatsoever, please do not hesitate to let me know. Thanks for been part of our Lottery.Your truely,Robert SmirtClaims ManagerUKNL Claims DepartmentPAST WINNERS a© Copyright 1994-2007 The UK National Lottery Inc. All rights reserved. Terms of Service – Guideline Thank you for all your help – I’ll sleep better tonight!
I, too was sent an email that I won 1,000,000 pounds.Wow!! at first I was surprised but I know it is fake for sure because if U really wins then they must send it without any charges.But the scam here is that U are going to use some amount to claim the prizes.So thats it!!! For a little amount each 1 involve when gathered, will be a huge amount of money..How cleverly thought…hehehee..that many are fools..Dont be fooled with this king of Scam ongoing anywhere around the world..
this one almost fooled me,i play the lotto online camelot take the money from my bank as a direct debit.so i was thinking that maybe i have won but i know now that they would never contact me in this manner and they alwready have all my details,so there is absaleutly no reason for them to ask who i am.this is my rotten copy from the scammers.The Camelot Group,Operators of The National Lottery.United Kingdom.NOTICE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT!!!The United Kingdom National Lottery wishes to inform you that the resultsof the E-mail address ballot lottery international program by GreatBritain held on the 24th of September 2008 is out.Your email account havebeen picked as a winner of a lump sum pay out of Eight hundred andninety-one thousand,nine hundred and thirty-four Great Britain pounds(£891,934.00 pounds sterling) credited to file REFNO.REF:UKL/74-A0802742008. This is from total prize money of GBP4,459,670.00 shared among the FIVE (5) international winners in thiscategory.You are to contact our claims agent for validation:THE BENEFICIARY/OWNER OF THE WINNING EMAIL OF THE FUNDS SHOULD COMPLETETHIS CLAIMS FORM.1. FULL NAMES OF BENEFICIARY:2. RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:3. DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:4. PHONE/FAX NUMBERS:5. NAME AND ADDRESS OF NEXT OF KIN:6. SEX:7. OCCUPATION:8. MARITAL STATUS:9. NATIONALITY:10. REF NUMBER AND BATCH NUMBER:11. AMOUNT WON:12. CLAIM OPTIONS (A)…….COURIER AND (B)…….BANK TO BANK WIRE TRANSFERProf. Derek Max.PROCESSING DEPARTMENT26 Stanhope RoadKent CT14 6AD LondonUnited KingdomEmail:camepaycenter01@live.comTel: +447031931675,Tel: +447031916681Yours Sincerely,Mrs. Dianne ThompsonOnline Coordinator,CAMELOT GROUP,Operator of The National Lottery.