Scam or not.....what do you all think....

[carole]

I received this in my email this morning , and of course my natural instincts are it is a scam, I am not that gullible, but then curiosity gets the better of me and I wonder has anyone else received something online similar, I mean half a million would go down a treat with me, but I know it can't be anything but a scam, what do you all think?

Ok it basically said I had won a lottery,Tattersfield House International, drawn randomly out of a computer ballot in Australia and my share is half a million, yeah I know so tempting, won through their Europe office, that sends warning bells first off, and to contact Pedro Mendez, so he can arrange to release the funds, I suspect it is a way of getting ones bank account number do you?

Your thoughts???

[luvofallhorses]

Hmm seems like a scam to me..jmho If it was real what would you do with the money :)

[carole]

I am 99.9 per cent sure it is a scam, but of course one always wonders don't they what if? hmm what would I do, spend it carefully, and make sure I was set for life., so money would never be a problem .

Get cat fencing for my kitties in my new home!!!! for sure:) :D

While we are on the subject of scams, I wish to ask if this is for real, on my computer it comes up often that I am eligible for a green card in a lottery that is run in the USA, over 50,000 people are drawn and can win a green card, you can do everything a US citizen can , except vote, is this for real?

[luvofallhorses]

:D

[lv4dogs]

I got the same email the other day. I think its a scam too. I deleted it right away.

[GraciesMommy]

Definately a scam..I got one last summer...sent it in to my ISP and they said it was..don't give any info thru email without checking it out first..

[carole]

Yes just as I thought, oh well there goes the dreams, he he, it probably downloads a damn virus on my computer, gee I hate these scams and viruses don't you?

I never believed it for a minute really, but one can always hope, I have merely read it, probably a mistake in itself, and will delete it promptly, I wonder what happens if you do contact the guy, do they then ask for your bank account number to release the funds, that is what I suspect, sorry not that stupid.

[ramanth]

Sounds like a scam. I'm sure if I won the lottery, they wouldn't be sending me emails.

The most common warning flags to scam emails are:

Spelling mistakes
grammar errors
asking for personal information

No buisness or orginization will do this via email.

[carole]

HERE IS THE LETTER.Tattersall's House
615 St. Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 8008
Australia.


Ref: TTALL/1117AUY/AUST
Draw No.: 2459
Winning No.: 40-10-19-30-13-4
Date: 15th March 2005

WINNING NOTICE

We happily announce to you the draws of the Tattersall House international
lottery programs held on the 15th of February 2005 here in Australia in which
you and five (5) provisional winners were
selected as winners under draw No. 2459. Your e-mail address attached to ticket
number:
08-04-33-38-BL-AU drew the lucky numbers: 40-10-19-30-13-4, which subsequently
won you the
lottery. All participants were selected randomly through computer ballot draw
system and from 5,000 companies.

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $549,790.41 (Five
Hundred and Forty Nine Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Dollars and Forty One
Cents) as your winning prize. This is
from a total prize pool of $3,298, 742.6 Please note that your lucky winning
number falls
within our Europe payment office in Europe as indicated in the results.

In line with this, your $549,790.41 will be paid to you upon confirmation and
clarification by our payment office in Europe. Our European agent will
immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your winnings as
soon as you contact him.

Do please quote your Draw, Reference and Winning numbers in any correspondence
with our designated agent. Please include your telephone number(s) when
contacting the agent.

CONTACT: MR.PEDRO MENDEZ,
UNIVERSAL SECURITY AND FREIGHT LIMITED,
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
Tel: 44-704-010-4605
Fax: 44-870-122-3632
EMAILS:[email protected]

Congratulations once more from all members and staff of this program and thank
you for being part of our promotional lottery program.

Sincerely yours,
JANICE MOORE (Ms.)
Results Coordinator.

N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will result to
Disqualification. Please do not reply to this mail. Contact your claim agent.
Also you are automatically disqualified if you are below 18 years of age.
Hey something interesting I noticed here the sticky out tongue on the email address, that was not on the original, only when I copied and pasted it, strange huh, dead giveaway,

[vinjashira]

type "UNIVERSAL SECURITY AND FREIGHT LIMITED" on google search and you'll know it's a scam :D

[carole]

Thank you will check it now.:) yup as we suspected like the nigerian scam.

[dukedogsmom]

Anything that sounds too good to be true usually is.
http://www.joewein.de/sw/419-universal-security.htm

[buckner]

Usually, if they give you a link to click for claiming your rewards, that's a link that allows them all your personal information - basically, a free pass to SEARCH your computer without you know. A free pass to hack your computer.

It's just like when you receive phone calls with people claiming they are the phone company and testing your line, asking you to press certain numbers - gives them free access to use your number as their own number and call anywhere in the world. Guess who has to pay the bill?

If it wasn't a scam, they wouldn't be emailing you about such a thing. :)

[Logan]

Sounds "scamish" to me, for sure!!! Be careful!

[carole]

Thanks everyone, I really am not that gullible, I suspected it from the beginning, but it is always nice to check it out, and warn other people as well, I really wanted to know what their purpose is sending the email, now you have told me they can access your computer, so that puts it into perspective, I have not done anything but read it, and so hopefully I will be safe, unless it downloads a virus on to my computer, go and do a scan now.

So does anyone know if the green card lottery is a scam, I was thinking of entering it for my son, but I am cautious about it, it sounds too good to be true as well.?

[RICHARD]

http://www.tuesdayswithmantu.com/index2.html

[carole]

thanks for the article Richard, I had heard of the Nigerian Scam before, I mean it does not even sound for real, the one I posted is based along those lines , but sounds more plausible, if you are easily taken in, which I AM NOT. now do you know anything about the Green card lottery?

[Ginger's Mom]

I am assuming that is also a scam. If you haven't entered the lottery (in the first scenerio), or filled out all of the necessary paperwork to obtain a "green card" no one who is legitimate is going to contact you about one. And no one who is legitimate is going to contact you on your e-mal if you haven't already given your e-mail address to them. If you have not knowingly given whatever company is contacting you your e-mail address, I would assume that it is not a legitimate solicitation.

[carole]

I should explain further, it is a flashing pop up on my computer that I get daily, you then click on it and fill in the necessary details, I have been tempted, but my gut feelings tell me not to even bother, I just wondered if such a thing exists and if it is genuine? Thanks for your reply.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Carole....I don't know of this scam but I do know about Green Cards....and I can assure you they don't raffle them off. There are quotas by country and, depending on what country...there can be a very long waiting list.

I work mostly with people who come to the US on student visas, then get a year of practical training (employment) and then enter the H1B process. It takes six years after THAT to get a green card.

There are other ways to get one as well. I was working with a young man from China who was becoming very frustrated with the time the process was taking (and the corporate sponsorship needed.) I suggested he find a nice American girl and marry her....just kidding of course.

If you would like I can see what the quota is for New Zealand?

[carole]

Thanks that would be nice, but please don't go to too much trouble, it is only an idea, I was toying with, my son is interested in travelling again, so always good to know your options.

I kinda figured it could not be that easy to obtain a green card, a lottery sounds a bit over the top, but then one never knows eh?

[Oggyflute]

Carole, theres two things you need to get urgently! One is a firewall. This stops people from accessing your computer. Plus a pop-up stopper. This stops those annoying pop-up adds that slow your connection. Also it's wise to get an "ad-aware" program. this will kill all those trojans hidden and those adds that send your info out.
I reccomend zone alarm for a fire wall, the basic package is a free download. Pop-Up blocker is another program you can download free, (i think it's still free). Plus google search "ad-Aware", this will find you the program to get rid of adds etc. It should also be free.

If you are getting a lot of pop-ups, chances are that your computer is infected allready, so might be best not to delay. :)

[Denyce]

Actually I am sorry to be disaggreable but there is a green card lottery. I know...it sounds bizarre. I don't know much about it and how you apply but it does really exist.

My husband and I have been dealing with INS for several years with him being Canadian. There were several times we were AT the INS in Philadelphia and were told about the lottery. We just weren't interested in dealing with it. Since we started with the appropriate Fiance visa and then became married and in debt together so we could prove to the US government that it is a real marriage we didn't need to enter a lottery.

By the way we just had his conditional status removed and his 10 year green card should arrive in 2-3 months....yea!!!!!!!! :D :D

It took about 6 years in total to get to this point. You can go to the INS online and find out if they still have the lottery.

Denyce

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Originally posted by carole


While we are on the subject of scams, I wish to ask if this is for real, on my computer it comes up often that I am eligible for a green card in a lottery that is run in the USA, over 50,000 people are drawn and can win a green card, you can do everything a US citizen can , except vote, is this for real?

Here is the official government web site: HERE (http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html)

Entries for the 2006 lottery have already closed on Jan 7th this year. I enter every year. but no luck so far!!

Whilst the Diversity Immigration "Lottery" IS official, there are loads of web sites that charge you a "processing fee"and pretend that they can increase your chances - THAT is the scam, as everyone has the same chance to win, you can enter yourself, and if you submit duplicate entries you are disqualified!