I decided to make this page to show people some of the less beneficent things in my emailbox.
In case nobody else has had it happen to them yet, I'll take this opportunity to tell you this - DO NOT follow any links you get in a message appearing to be from eBay. I must've had a brain-fart the day I did that, b/c I went on to provide personal info on the page it linked to, despite the fact that I saw it cross servers. Whoever did that to me got my bank acc't info and went on to steal all my money and then some. Fortunately, the bank was good about giving me provisional credit back and setting up a new acc't, but still, it's not something you want happening, trust me. So, I've adopted a policy of forwarding any email I get from eBay to [email protected], and so far 100% of that email has been fraudulent. I recommend everybody do the same.
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE
AWARD DEPARTMENT DEAR SIR/MADAM,
FINAL NOTICE OF AWARD NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the
announcement today,8TH MARCH,
2004, of winners of the FLASH FORTUNE
LOTTO SOUTH AFRICA/INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS,
held on 1ST MARCH 2004 as part of our
promotional draws.Participants were selected
through a computer ballot system drawn
from 2,500,000 email addresses of individuals
and companies from Africa, America, Asia,
Australia, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and
New Zealand as part of our electronic business
Promotions Program.
You qualified for the draw as a result of you
visiting various websites we are running the
e-business promotions for. You/Your Company,
attached to ticket number 100-309-7482, with
serial number 513-10 drew the lucky numbers
5, 9, 12, 29, 40, 59, 76,and consequently
won in the Second Category. You have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of
US$2,950,000.00 in cash, which is the winning payout
for Second category winners. This is from the total
prize money of US$13,650,000.00 shared among the
Seven international winners in the Second category.
CONGRATULATIONS! Your fund is now deposited with the
Solid Rock Finance and Security Company insured in
your name. Due to the mix up of some numbers and names,
we ask that you keep this award strictly from public
notice until your claim has been processed and your
money remitted to your account. This is part of our
security protocol to avoid double claiming or
unscrupulous acts by participants of this program.
We hope with a part of your prize, you will
participate in our mid year (2004) high stakes
US$1.3 billion International Lottery. To begin
your claim, please contact your claim agent immediately;
MR JOHN MICHAEL FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER,
SOLID ROCK FINANCE & SECURITY LTD, JOHANNESBURG, S.A
TEL: +27-733-244-277 FAX: +27- 113-391-052
EMAIL;[email protected] For due processing
and remittance of your prize money to a designated
account of your choice. Remember, you must contact
your claim agent not later than 19TH MARCH, 2004.
After this date, all funds will be returned as
unclaimed. NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays
and complications, please remember to quote your
reference and batch numbers provided below in every
one of your correspondences with your claims agent.
REFERENCE NUMBER: FLS-ZR39-825P-4 BATCH NUMBER:
74-263-BBN Congratulations once again from all our staff
and thank you for being part of our promotions
program. Sincerely, THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
FLASH FORTUNE LOTTO SOUTH AFRICA. 115 NORDIX AVE.
BRYANSTON, 1762 JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA.
TEL/ FAX: +27 119-849-414 N.B.
Any breach of confidentiality on the part of the winners will
result to disqualification. Please do not reply
to this mail box. Contact your claims agent
through his email contact above.
This one is pretty obviously fraudulent, and I just found it in my box tonight. It doesn't seem too overtly malicious, tho I have heard of people having their identity stolen through one similar to this. Well, similar in the sense that the messages originate from South Africa. The other one is from deposed ruler promising you a ton of money if you give him/her a bank acc't to put it in "for safekeeping."