Today I received 2 complaints of 2 separate scams directed at extorting money from you in order to either claim your prize or to stop litigation against you.
EMAIL SCAM
The first scam is the familiar email “you have won $2,500,000.00 and a Mercedes Vehicle ” all you have to do is send a payment of $850.00 to pay the brokerage fees. You can insert any number there. Most people are familiar with this scam, however, the scammers are getting more sophisticated. They are using legitimate lottery organization Logos and Names and using the copy and paste method of creating legitimate looking documents. They have what appear to be actual mailing addresses and phone numbers. They may call you and have you call back to verify the number and person. Addresses are actually rental addresses where they pay for the rental of the mailing address alone, never actually occupying the site. The phone numbers are usually spoofed numbers made to look like a number in your location or at the rental address.
What you need to know is in the USA it is illegal to charge a fee for any lottery win and in Canada you do not have to pay the CRA any taxes or fees of any kind on lottery and sweepstakes winnings.
Below is a copy of a type of email or phone scam document that you may expect the scammer to send you as a type of verification of your win and the explanation why they need you to send money:
GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL – Sweepstakes Winner Announcement
Payout & Processing Services Inc. [IMAGES MISSING]
To: Eizabeth Victor
From: Tucson AZ
Date: September 18 2017
Re: Manufacturers Global International Official Rules
Following official publication of results for the International Gaming Commission organized by The Consortium of Manufacturers and the Betting’s Gaming’s & Lottery’s Commissions, The Global International, and the Mega Millions Company Ltd where Elizabeth Victor, Emerged as one of the lucky winners in the 1st category, and therefore attracted a certified cashiers cheque award payout of Seventeen Million Five Hundred Thousand ($17,500,000.00).
We write to officially notify you of this award, and to advise you to contact our claims and processing office immediately upon receipt of this notification for more information concerning the verification &processing of the above prize to you. Ms. Lena Robinson tell: (508)216-0836
How you were entered: Any eligible individual, who have donate to the charity foundation, purchases any qualifying branded product affiliated withThe Consortium of Manufacturers, using their credit card,debit card, ATM card or check book as a medium of payment or filling out a coupon or donating to churches worldwide, is automatically qualified to be randomly selected to enter our monthly raffle for a chance to win one of the following prizes:
Gold – Seventeen Million five Hundred Dollars ($17,500,000.00)
Silver – Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($6,500,000.00)
We are proud to say that over 30 Million Dollars has been won monthly in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Upon claiming your package a duty of $35.000 will be attracted to begin the processing of your winnings, please ensure that all receipts of are kept safely in your possession so you can receive full reimbursement of all your payments made to the company after receiving your prize.
The odds of winning are dependent upon the number of individuals that are randomly selected for entry in any given month.
Only one (1) entry per person per raffle. Only one (1) entry per household per raffle. Limit one prize per individual/household per 365 days. Designated entrant must be 18 years or older and a legal resident of the United States and Canada. The following individuals are not eligible for entry: current and recent employees, directors and officers, plus their immediate family members or household members, of the Consortium of Manufacturers, of the Global International Payout and Processing Services Inc., Archives or any other Companies contracted by the Consortium of Manufacturers. The term “immediate family” includes spouses, domestic partners, siblings, parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren, whether as “in-laws,” or by current or past marriage(s), remarriage(s), adoption, co-habitation or other family extension, and any other persons residing at the same household whether or not related.
For each raffle, a random drawing will be made of all eligible qualifying entrants. Winners will be notified by telephone or mail only.
All prizes must be redeemed within (1-6) years’ time of notification of winning, unless otherwise specified at the time of winning. If a winner fails to redeem a prize within (1-6) years time, the winner forfeits the prize, no other prize will be awarded in its place to that individual and The Consortium of Manufacturers reserve the right to determine an alternate winner (in which case an alternate winner will be drawn randomly) or to not award that winner’s prize in their sole discretion. If a winner cannot be contacted by telephone or is disqualified, The Consortium of Manufacturers reserve the right to determine an alternate winner (in which case an alternate winner will be drawn randomly) or to not award that winner’s prize in their sole discretion. In the event The Consortium of Manufacturers as the case may be, elects to determine an alternate winner, pursuant to these rules, The Consortium of Manufacturers will select up to three (3) alternate winners. If the third alternate winner fails to redeem the prize within (15weeks time), cannot be contacted by telephone, is disqualified, is unable to use the prize as an award, or declines the prize, The Consortium of Manufacturers reserve the right to determine an alternate winner through any method they deem appropriate, in their sole discretion. The Consortium of Manufacturers has no affiliation with and do not endorse any prize sponsors.
Delivery of prizes: All checks will be delivered at the winner’s residence within 3 to 4 hours after processing and general insurance fees have been paid to an assigned (C.F.O.) Chief Financial Officer, unless otherwise noted. The Consortium of Manufacturers has pre-paid in full all insurances to cover any lost, stolen, misdirected or damaged check. Winners will be refunded 100% of the total value of their check if lost, stolen or damaged while in transit.
Please Note: To remain compliant with our privacy and security policies. IN GOD WE TRUSTany further information must be discussed via telephone with your assigned Certified Contracted Carrier.
JACK ROSENBERG
Copied from Nuet.us
While the letter you receive may not be exactly the same, the idea is. Don’t be fooled by these scams, don’t give out your information unless you are absolutely sure you know who you are dealing with. Search the Companies to make sure they are who they say they are. This is not how legitimate organizations work. They will never contact you by email and they will never ask for money to secure payment.
More information can be found here.
PHONE SCAM
The second scam complaint happened very close to home. A friend of mine received a phone call where the caller, in a computer generated voice, left a voice mail. The caller threatened that a legal action has been started against them and they must respond immediately. They went on to threaten that if they do not respond there will be a warrant issued for their arrest and they will be arrested. This person listened to the phone message and became very scared. They didn’t know what it was about or what to do. I was able to reassure them that it was a scam.
This type of threat is based on emotion and fear, the caller wants you to respond for the same reasons as above. They want your money to make the fake claim go away. They can say it is about anything and they will say that for “X” amount of dollars they can fix the problem. Even if you don’t pay them any money they will continue to try to get as much personal information about you as they can. They will then use the information to sell to other scammers or to create a new identity in your name, possibly leaving you on the hook for many thousands of dollars.
In any legal action you will not be contacted by phone unless the other side is using a lawyer or paralegal and they are contacting you to confirm an address for service or the possibility of settling a claim you most likely already know about. They will immediately identify themselves and who they represent and they will not threaten you with arrest.
The most obvious sign this is a scam is the threat of arrest. The police or courts will not notify you in advance of a warrant for your arrest they will simply execute the warrant, where they find you, without notice to you. Warrants are not given out lightly, they must be signed by a Judge or Justice of the Peace and they must be with reasons or cause. The person making the threat does not have the actual authority to follow through on that threat.
The individuals making these types of calls, again, are sophisticated enough to know how to setup fake phone numbers that seem legitimate but are next to impossible to trace. They use computer generated voices to hide their identity in the event the call is recorded. They rely on the individual not knowing the law or the system and how things really work.
These types of scammers want your money and sometimes more importantly your information. In today’s information world everybody wants your information. It is potentially worth much more than any money they can extort from you directly. You are getting these types of calls because your information has been collected from somewhere else. Information is being collected and stored everywhere. It is being leaked, hacked and shared regularly. Information is a multi-billion dollar industry. You need to protect your information, don’t give it out without caution.
Protect your information like it is your life, because it is!
REMEMBER: your information is being collected for only 1 reason, for someone else to make money. This applies in every case.
These scams should be reported to police and I recommend you do so immediately after receiving any type of threat. Keep written details of time, location, date and any names of individuals you talk to.