Internet Lottery Scam Dupes Retired Colonel

Retired Colonel "Vinod Mundra" from Chandigarh (India) states that a conman duped him after he had lied to him that he (Mundra) was the winner of a lottery worth crore Rupees, The Conman fraudulently promised that he would send the prize sum to him.

The Police states that around 2 months back, Mundra got an e-mail disclosing him that he had won a Camry motorcar and about 7,50,000 Pounds at a lottery game in Britain. The e-mail then told him to transfer some cash so that the winning sum could be sanctioned.

The Police officials state that in compliance with the e-mail, 'Col. Mundra' began to send money to an account at ICICI Bank. He deposited some Rs.8-8.5 Lakhs in the account. Mundra is also an accountholder at two banks - SBI and ICICI Bank, as reported by The Times of India on May 21, 2010.

Furthermore, the e-mail directed 'Mundra' that he sent his bio-data through e-mail along with his contact number and other details. Subsequently, someone began to call him routinely.

But the former Colonel did not get any money which made him suspicious and sought help from the Police. The preliminary investigations revealed that the bank accounts of the beneficiaries were held at Mumbai and Jaipur.

Another similar case was observed during the 3rd week of May 2010 when scammers duped Sagar Sehgal - an ex-PEC principal - off Rs 23 Lakhs. In December 2009, Sehgal also got an e-mail announcing that he had won Rs 56 Crores at a Spanish lottery.

Commenting on the escalating number of phishing scams, security researchers stated that they (scams) could take up different forms such as investment scams, identity fraud, mortgage scams, or other consumer scams. People fall victim to these lucrative scams daily.

When an unexpected lottery win is announced, people send in real cash as per the scammers' directions in the hope of making massive sums of money.

Hence, security specialists state that netizens such as 'Mundra' should always remember that if a lottery is genuine, there is no need to pay for claiming the prizes. Taxes are deducted only when the prizes are received.

Related article: Internet Threat Volumes Overwhelm Security Companies

» SPAMfighter News - 6/2/2010