Euro millions lottery scams

Whilst having breakfast this morning, watched a segment on BBC news, which reported on the sudden increase in postal letter scams. In it the guy in question had replied to one and shortly after was receiving up to 30 such letters a day. To see more: Mail scams increase

Almost everyday I am asked by online customers to verifiy that the snailmail/email they received is genuine or not, such as the one below:

FROM: INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
EURO MILLIONS LOTTERY IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE BIG BIG LOTTO.
7 Knightsbridge
London
SW1X 7XS
United Kingdom.
REF. NUMBER: EM/895/UK/07.
WINNING NOTIFICATION: We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Euro Millions International Lottery Programme held on the 19/01/2007 by the Big Big Lotto International Online Services. As part of the annual promotional programme by the Big Big Lotto International. The weekly competition was drawn along with over Twenty million individual and company email addresses online.
Your EMAIL address attached to ticket number 101777948 drew FIVE LUCKY NUMBERS ( 05-13-27-33-42) and one of the TWO LUCKY STAR NUMBER (02-05). As your EMAIL has matched the FIVE LUCKY NUMBERS and one of the TWO LUCKY STAR NUMBERS you have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of €243,352.10 Euros, please check the link below for more information.
http://www.thebigbiglotto.com/online-lottery-euro-millions-lottery-results.php
However, due to mix up of some numbers and names we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some lottery scammers. You are to contact the Claims Officers via the two email addresses below with the information listed below for necessary processing of your claim.
Co-ordinator: Mrs. Ainslie Mason
Assistant Co-ordinators:
Mr Andrew Wallace
DIRECT PHONE: +44 7928516385
FAX: +44 2079 002 312
Email:euromillionsclaimsoffice@walla.com 1. FULL NAMES:
2. ADDRESS/STATE/COUNTRY:
3. SEX:
4. AGE:
5. MARITAL STATUS:
6. OCCUPATION:
7. E-MAIL ADDRESS:
8. FAX AND TELEPHONE NUMBER:
9. MOBILE NUMBER
10.LUCKY MAIN NUMBER:
11.LUCKY STAR NUMBER:
12. REF NUMBER:
13. AMOUNT WON:
14. MODE OF PAYMENT.
A. BANK TRANSFER:
B. COME PERSONALLY TO UK TO RECEIVE YOUR PRIZE:
Please note that winners are also invited to our annual end of year dinner coming up on 24th February, 2007. This will be an all expense paid event and we should be given at least two weeks notice prior to the event should you wish to attend.
CONGRATULATIONS on behalf of the Staffs of THE BIG BIG LOTTO AND EURO MILLIONS INTERNATIONAL.
Message sent from the Desk of;
Mary Rowland (mrs)
Regional Director

So if you receive a euro millions lottery winning notification (or any other lotto) remember 2 things:

1. UNSOLICITED EMAIL IS SPAM - regardless of what the subject maybe. If you receieved a letter/email from somone you do not know/never heard of/did not request then it is spam. You receive an invitation for cheap Viagra and you bin the letter, why not do the same for euro millions lotto scam letters?

2. IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT PROBABLY IS - remember that it is the player's responsibilty to check and claim winnings. Think back to the last raffle you saw where a ticket was drawn and no one claimed. Bet you they didn't stop the game to go find the person, it would either be left as unclaimed or put back in for another drawing. So if in doubt,do some research first, for example this is from the T&Cs of the UK national lottery:

5) After a Ticket has been issued the Player will be responsible for the safe custody and condition of that Ticket. Subject to Rule 4(M) and except in the case of Subscriptions, failure to produce a Ticket on claiming a Prize will result in refusal to pay the prize.
(7) The Player is responsible for claiming the full value of the Prize to which he is entitled, subject to the provisions of Rule 4(D) above regarding the payment of Prize winnings in respect of Subscriptions.

You probably saw that our company name, www.thebigbiglotto.com, was also used in the above letter. As email is our main form of communication we offer our customers an "opt-in" clause when signing up, which means we use permission based marketing and thus any email you receive unsolicited, purporting to be from us, is fraudulent. We will only contact you if you ask us to!

So bin it!!! Else you go on the fraudsters sucker list and then you will keep getting these lottery scams etc