Woman warns of e-mail lottery scams

Valdine Atwood of Machias just has to be the luckiest woman Down East, if not in the world. “Enclosed please find copies of lottery scams that I received over my e-mail address,” she writes Forum. “I thought you might be interested and want to share the information with your readers.” According to the e-mails, in just three months since her new address was activated, Valdine “won” the following prizes:

. “5,500,000 dorlars [the scammer’s spelling] in cash” from Cashoutlotto International Program, Fred Hoofman, Promotions Manager.

. “$100,000 Euro” from Nationwide International Lottery, Mr. A.S. Mike, Nationwide Payment Office, Emmem, The Netherlands.

. “$250,000 United States dollars” from Citadel Lottery International, Mrs. Van Der Koos, Lottery Coordinator.

. “$500,000 US dollars” from the Autimate Email Program, Mrs. Monica Robeth, games and lottery coordinator.

If our addition is correct, Valdine has won a grand total of $6,350,000 “dorlars” and she didn’t even enter any lotteries. Not bad for a Maine girl. But then, this Maine girl was also smart enough to see through the scam.

“It is interesting,” Valdine said, “that the first one, dated January 24, 2004, was not received in my mailbox until mid-April and I didn’t even have my current e-mail address until March of this year.”

If everyone were as observant as Atwood, these crooks would be out of business in the time it takes to shuck an oyster. Unfortunately, thousands of people fall for these lottery scams, their wishful heads filled with visions of wealth. But no one has ever received one penny from any of these schemes. They are lies. If you respond by e-mail or to a telephone number provided for “winners,” here’s what will happen.

You will be asked to pay a “handling” or “registration” fee, usually through electronic withdrawal from your bank account or as a credit card charge. That will be the last you see of your money. Even worse, you will find that your identity has been stolen and your bank account or credit card records will start to reflect withdrawals and charges you never authorized.

If you call the phone number provided to “winners,” your next telephone bill will contain outrageous charges for the call, or worse, long-distance calls you never made.

The examples above are widely referred to as the “Dutch Sweepstakes Scam” because of their earliest-known country of origin. There is evidence to suggest that these lottery scams are being perpetrated by the same crooks that invented the “Nigeria Scam,” discussed in Forum last week.

When you receive notification that you have won a fabulous amount of money, it is only human nature to dream it might be true. And that’s where they get you. If you spend a few minutes reading these notifications dreaming of wealth, don’t feel stupid; feel victimized, then feel smart and delete them. Better yet, for all mail you don’t recognize, just delete before opening because the act of opening mail itself could expose your system to a virus or worm, or link you to hackers who can then invade your computer and accounts.

Seniors ages 65 and older, often targets of phony lottery and sweepstakes offers, are going online at an increasing rate. So warn your older relatives and friends about these scams and the dangers of opening unfamiliar e-mail and downloading attachments.

To Valdine Atwood of Machias, thank you for providing Forum and our readers with specific examples of this type of Internet scam, and for the wise way you handled them – as liners for your cat box. We hope you have fun spending your “dorlars.” Let us know whose face appears on the bills – Bullwinkle the Moose, perhaps?

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT-Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership $25, business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.