Protect Yourself and Report the Latest Frauds, Scams, Spams, Fakes, Identify Theft Hacks and Hoaxes
There are affiliate links on this page.
Read our disclosure policy to learn more.
Have you received an email from "Mrs. Elizabeth Terry Announcer" at "BIGCHANCE LOTTERY LTD" telling you that "your email address won in the second category" or something similar, and to contact "Mr.Morgan Bell" to collect your winnings? It is a scam. No legitimate, legal lottery notifies winners vian email (see footnote) The scammers may change the names and details, but it is still a scam!
Below is the example of the fake email scam (the email is the scam, not any persons or companies named in the email) claiming to be from the "BIGCHANCE LOTTERY LTD".
Although the most important clue is that no legitimate lottery will ever email a winner, there are many other signs that this is a fraud. We have highlighted some of these in the email below, not the least of which are:
Email address ballot: There is no such thing as a "computer ballot system" or "computer email draw". No one, not even Microsoft has a database of email addresses of the type or magnitude they suggest.
"No tickets were sold": You care to explain where the money comes from? Perhaps the lottery money fairy? Why would a lottery give away money to "email address randomly selected by a computer ballot draw system"? This is CLEARLY nonsense: you MUST, repeat MUST buy a ticket to have a chance of winning any lottery!
Terrible spelling, punctuation, syntax and grammar - Scammers apparently don't know how to use spell checkers. We assume they dropped out of school before that class. They use almost excessive and random CapItaLiZAtion. They often can't even spell "February" or know that "22th" ought to be "22nd". These scammers usually write at the 3rd grade level. Being non-native English speakers, they also often get first names and surnames (last names reversed), so you will frequently see names like "Mr. SMITH JAMES.", instead of "Mr. James Smith", along with the peculiar usage of periods (full stops) and spaces or the lack thereof. Real lotteries also proofread their emails and look and read more professional.
Using free email account: The scammer is writing to you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Excite, AIM, Gmail, etc.). Don't you think a real organization would use it's own email, it's own domain and website?
Keep Confidential - Real lotteries THRIVE on publicity - they don't want you to keep anything secret - the publicity causes people to buy more tickets. there is NO risk of "double claiming" because they can validate where the ticket numbers were sold. The scammer want you to keep quiet because they don't want the police or ConsumerFraudreporting to hear about them! It should read: "For our own security, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until we have finished scamming you!"
Email notification: NO REAL LOTTERY SENDS AN EMAIL TO NOTIFY WINNERS. Period. Full-stop. End of story. There mere fact ALONE that you received an email saying you won a lottery is proof that it is a scam.
Here is a typical scam lottery winning notification.
YOUR EMAIL HAVE WON A LOTTERY PRIZE
De : BIGCHANCE LOTTERY LTD. ( mrmorgan@yahoo.com )
Ajouter aux contacts
Envoyé :mer. 04/07/07 20:27
Répondre à : mrmorganbell@yahoo.com.hk
Bigchance Lottery Ltd1,
Church St,
Eccles,Manchester, M30 0DFLotteries & Pools
www.bigchancelottery.com*****************************Ref: EAASL/941OYI/02Batch: 12/25/0034 *****************************
ATTENTION:WINNING NOTIFICATION
We hereby inform you of the draw of the Big chance Lottery International program held on the 2nd of July 2007 in London. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number:564-75600545-188 with Serial number 5388/02 drew the lucky numbers: 31-6-26-13-35-7,which subsequently won you the lottery prize in the2nd category. You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of GBP1,000, 000.00 (One million Great Britain pounds) in cash credited to file C/9080118308/02. This is from a total cash prize of GBP50 Million pounds, shared amongst the first fiftheen (15) lucky winners in this category.
This years Lottery Cash prize award is the 2nd largest ever for the Bigchance Lottery Organisation The estimated GBP75 million jackpot would be the sixth-biggest in the historical proceedings. The biggest was the GBP363 million jackpot that went to two winners in a May 2000 drawing of The big game, megamillions predecessor. All participants were selected randomly (Electronically) from the' World Wide Web' site through a computer ballot system and extracted from over 100,000 company addresses. This promotion takes place annually. No ticket was sold. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning informations confidential till your claim is processed and your money transferred to a designated bank account of your choice. This is a part of our precautionary measure to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some unscrupulous elements. Please be warned. Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in UK as indicated in our play coupon. In view of this, your GBP1,000,000.00(One million great britain pounds) would be released to you by our affiliate agent payment center in London. It is our standard practice to allocate accredited agents for the processing of claims application. contact the clearing house (through your claims agent only) the body assigned with the verification of all emerged winners. Therefore all protocols laid down by them must be followed to facilitate your claims;
AGENCY HOUSE:
The Clearing House, United Kingdom. London Branch. www.theclearinghouse.org
AGENT:
Mr.Morgan Bell click on the email below to reply this mail
Email: mrmorganbell@yahoo.com.hk
Tel: +447031905464 +447024060536Congratulations once more from all members and staffs of this programme.
Mrs. Elizabeth Terry Announcer
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
***