Don’t fall for lottery scams. We received an email from one of our readers and decided that we should take the opportunity to remind others of due diligence
This one looks like it might have been in circulation for a while as it uses Mr and mrs Weir who won £161m on the Euro millions in 2011. It’s still good to be aware of these scams and maintain vigilance so that you are never taken for a ride. It’s surprising how many people still fall for these scams so it’s important to reinforce good due diligence practices.
Here’s a copy of the letter
Congratulations!
This email correspondence is from Mr & Mrs Weir, Britain’s richest ever lottery winners of £161million Euromillions jackpot. Your email is among the three(3) emails that have just been randomly selected by a Google-powered newsletter software operated by legally registered British freelance tech experts upon our request to receive a financial support donation of £1million payable by our affiliate payout bank as we intend to continue sharing our luck as part of celebrations to mark the 4th anniversary of our massive £161million Euromillions win.
Since winning Britain’s biggest ever EuroMillions lottery jackpot, my wife and I have always used our fortune to fund a number of good causes and it has been a privilege to be in a position to provide support where we could. I understand that you might feel sceptical, considering the fact that this seems quite unbelievable, or as many will say “too good to be true”, however, you can find more information in regards to some of our few notable donations here;
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-18801698
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-19061986
Kindly submit Name, Address, Tel/Phone for onward forwarding to our payout bank.
Mr & Mrs Weir.
©2015 The Weirs Email Donation Project.All Rights Reserved
One rule that has always served well with to help avoid falling victim is to never, ever, EVER email your personal details to anyone, especially your bank details!
These online lottery scams are relentless in their attempts to defraud you but there are a few tell tale signs to look out for;
- They will almost always ask for your personal details
- They generally will not address you by your first name simply because they don’t have it. Sometimes they are able to work it out from your email address but more often than not, they are using automated systems that won’t do this.
- Check the address it’s being sent from. An official lottery will always contact you from an email with their domain name and not some generic mail provider. For example, lottery@yahoo.co.uk has lottery scams written all over it.
- You can be forgiven for wanting to believe that it’s true that there are millions waiting for you on the other side of a random email, but it’s not likely. Especially if you can’t remember playing/entering a lottery in the first place
- If curiousity still gets the better of you, ask them for a phone number first so you can call them or ask them to send your winnings via Paypal. Can’t go wrong there.
Moral of the story is, please be vigilant, don’t send any personal details and if you want, you can always email us a copy of any email that hints that lottery scams could be present band we can help to verify it’s validity for you.