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The "Grand Bonanza International Program" is a really pathetic attempt at a scam. Even if you get past all the misspellings, poor grammar and punctuation, and the laughable "we're doing this out of a sense of civic responsibility" lines, you'd have to be an imbecile to think that any company or organization is going to hand out money randomly to you, just because you have an email address.
Below is the scam email. We have highlighted the obvious clues to the scam in the letter; such as poor spelling, punctuation and grammar, use of a free email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) rather than the organization's own domain, the "random computer balloting system" or "computer draw system", and warning to "keep this confidential" (they certainly don't want you telling the police or ConsumerFraudReporting about it!)
This one is really too stupid to believe that anyone would fall for it... And for another, even worse attempt Microsoft scam, see this page.
What to do if you think you have been the victim of a lottery scam
GRAND BONANZA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM
PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Alfreds Way,Barking London United Kingdom
PRIZE AWARD
This is to inform you of the results of the draws of our Grand Bonanza International rogram (GBIP) held on the 5th febuary 2007 in the United Kingdom.
We are pleased to notify you, on the emergence as a Winner in this Program and you have been awarded with a cash prize of L900,000.00(nine hundred thousand British Pounds) The selection process was carried out through random computer balloting
from an online database of World Wide Web sites of over 250,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world. And your email address was selected among the five Lucky Winners in this Program.
This Program is approved by the British Gaming Board and also Licensed by The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This Promotional Program is the 3rd in its series which we intend to hold it annually in comformity with our corporate policy and sense of civic responsibilities.
To begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our European booklet representative claims office as allocated to your Lotto Batch Number and Lotto Reference Numbers. You are to make contact with the Claims Office with the information below:
............................................................
Mr.Smith winston
Tel :+44701112 7822
+44 703 1955 372
+44702 401 8673
+44702 401 8677
Email : smithwinston2@inMail24.com
1. Full name and address.
2. Country.
3. Tel and fax number. ...........................................................
You are to contact the Claims Office immediatelty with your Lotto Batch Number and Lotto Reference Numbers. (IMPORTANT NOTICE) *Winners are advised to keep their winning details/information from the public, to avoid fraudulent claims pending the final transfer/claim by Winner. *All Staff of the NKL Group are not to partake in this Promotional
Program.
Accept our hearty congratulations ! Regards
Mrs Lisa Burns.
Head of Public Relations Dept.
Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies
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