E-mail Scam Nearly Dupes a Phoenix Resident

An inhabitant of Phoenix, Arizona (USA) Tracy Schrock, who's presently unemployed, was duped with a fraudulent e-mail. Azfamily.com published this on November 14, 2011.

Actually, Tracy got an e-mail, which told her about one overseas lottery of which she was a winner.

In that, the sender, congratulating her, informed that UK Lottery had selected her e-mail for the win and that her winning numbers were enclosed.

Furthermore, the e-mail suggested that somehow the lottery had a connection with the Ohio Lottery while there was its logo in it too. And although Schrock resided in Phoenix, the e-mail appeared more real because of its Ohio connection. She therefore, sent a reply for confirming whether the e-mail related to a scam.

She received an answer, which was in the negative, but, asked her to wire a $500 fee for processing the winning amount. Once that was done, the Lottery Company would credit the amount to the account of her bank, the message explained.

Schrock was about to send the money, but on asking her friend, she came to learn that it was really one case of fraud.

Worryingly, this isn't the first time when a lottery e-mail fraud has hit someone, say security researchers. Indeed, it's one highly usual kind of scam involving fake electronic mails, which are presently targeting people's inboxes, they further say.

The mode-of-operation, according to the researchers, involves victims who ordinarily get e-mails telling them they're winners of a lottery, however, still they require sending transfer fee apparently, to process their winning amount like in Schrock's instance.

Meanwhile, genuine lotteries don't rely on e-mail for informing their winners. Commonly, the ticket-holder is required to get in touch with the lottery company. Additionally, many countries have forbidden Internet lotteries. All lotteries, even offshore ones operating in UK, are not permitted inside the country other than those that the 1976 Lotteries and Amusement Act approve i.e. lotteries, which the government runs.

Thus, for avoiding being a victim of lottery e-mail scams, anyone who gets such an electronic message must be careful not to reply to it, rather erase it immediately, researchers recommend.

Related article: E-Crime Reporting Format To Be Launched in July

» SPAMfighter News - 11/22/2011