Email lottery scam
A variation on the Nigerian 419 scam that is being spread via e-mail with increasing frequency. The fraudsters use the high profile of the UK National Lottery as a means of fooling recipients into giving out their personal details. The scam works like this.
You open your e-mail account and find that you have mail telling you that your e-mail address has been chosen at random, by computer and, as such you have won anywhere between half a million and two million pounds. In order to be able to collect your winnings, you must fill out a form that asks for your personal details. These include such things as address, telephone number, bank account, etc.
The mail also wants the recipient to pay anything between two hundred and six hundred pounds. These are ‘mandatory administrative charges’ and these are supposedly for ‘mailing, insurance and VAT’.
Two motives
The motive behind the scam is two fold. Firstly you send money to these people in the belief that you are going to receive a large payout. Secondly you supply your personal details to allow the ‘Lottery’ to put the funds into your account. They can now commit identity fraud in your name and possibly extract money from your bank account.
The UK National Lottery is one company that is having it's name used in this type of scam. Other high profile companies are having their names used in this way. To date Liverpool Football Club, National Museums and Galleries and the Spanish National Lottery are all having their names used to give a veneer of authenticity to this scam.
Remember the golden rule never give out your personal details to anyone that you do not know, particularly if your only contact is by e-mail or mobile phone. By their very nature, mobile phones and for that matter e-mails are mobile and can be used in any location making it almost impossible to track down these people.