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 Lottery Scams

Lottery Scam Database

Lottery names used in lottery scams

 

Have YOU received a Lottery Scam Letter? - Be an expert at recognizing Lottery Scams

 

Green Card Lottery Scam: Truth and Lies in simple words

 

NEW Faked and Forged Lottery Documents

All about Lottery Scam Letters:

Lottery Winners: The Truth vs The Scam

GroupLotto vs. Lottery Scams

International Lotteries vs. Lottery Scams

Sponsored vs. Operated Lotteries: The difference between lotteries and sweepstakes.

Lottery Site Map

Lottery Database

Sample letters

Lottery Scam letters: Investigation Discoveries in Action

"Peter Lambert" and other form letters

 

ID FRAUD IS A LIFE SENTENCE

IT doesn't matter if you have no credit.  IT doesn't matter if you have no credit cards.

Once you become a victim of ID Theft, you'll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.

 

You think it won't happen to you, BUT

more and more of you are writing to us because you've become ID Theft victims.

 

MOST OF YOU

have become ID Theft victims because you open scam letters.

 

Because you answer the scam letters.

 

Because you open your computer to scammers.

 

Scam letters contain Spyware and Trojan horses.

 

Spyware reads all your files, including the files your browsers keep on your hard drive.  That means all your files and all your internet activity.

 

Trojan horses open doors in your firewall, allowing scammers to watch your screen on their computer in real time.

 

Your passwords, your user names, your entire identity is sold to men and women who pretend to be you to avoid arrest.

 

Your passwords, your user names, your entire identity is sold over and over and over again around the world to bad, bad people.

 

They set up accounts in your name.  They commit crimes using your name.  They establish credit using your name.  They enter countries illegally using your name.

 

They cheat, they steal, they run drugs, they sell guns, they commit fraud, they leave huge debts,

ALL UNDER YOUR NAME.

 

I urge you to run your anti-spyware and anti-virus programs every day.

Your anti-virus software and spyware program cannot tell ahead of time what malicious devices are going to be created, they can only deal with them AFTER they have hit the Internet and they've had time to develop an eliminator.

I urge you to erase all records of your Internet activity from your hard drive.

Until you do, nothing you do on the Internet is safe from strangers.  They know where you go, what you look at, what you say in chat rooms, where and how you log-in to secure sites.

Believe me when I say this:

Being a fraud victim is terrifying!

This has been a message from Annie McGuire, CEO & Founder, Fraud Aid

__________________

SecureClean Internet Tracks Eraser

Save yourself $1000's of Dollars and untold misery from ID Theft and ID Fraud

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored vs. Operated Lotteries

The difference between lotteries and sweepstakes.

How to tell the difference between a sponsored lottery game (free) and an operated lottery (pay to play).

If you have received a lot of Lottery Scam Letters, you have undoubtedly seen that some that claim to be sponsored by Bill Gates or Jesse Jackson.

Let's set the record straight: lotteries are NOT sponsored.

Lotteries are "operated."  That means that they are managed by a company (either government owned or independent) that specializes in every aspect of lottery law,  promotion, and financial responsibility.

Now why is that?  Well, just think of the numbers for a moment.  Lotteries winnings are a portion of the total fees paid into the lottery by players.  That's an awful lot of money.  And that money has to be disbursed.  Here are just some (not all) of the expenses incurred by operating a lottery:

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Marketing and Advertising (ad development, cost of advertising in the media, marketing and advertising specialists)
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Printing
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Point of purchase machines and machine maintenance
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Security specialists
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Cash pick-up and delivery services
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Corporate salaries
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Bookkeeping
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Computers
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Software
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Corporate overhead
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Attorney fees (to keep up with lottery laws)
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Web site maintenance
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Game development
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General overhead (rent, insurances, office furniture, office supplies, etc.)
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Disbursement oversight (to schools and other public works, to tax authorities, to winners).

All those expenses are paid for by the amounts that players pay for their game.  The winnings are what is left over after expenses and disbursements to public works.  Taxes are deducted from the winnings of the specific player once that player reports his claim to the lottery.

 

A SPONSORED lottery is normally called a sweepstakes.  Sponsored games are free, and are an enticement for players to provide their name, address, and telephone number for marketing and advertising purposes.

Where does the money come from for Sweepstake jackpots?  From advertisers.

The most important information for advertisers is called demographics.  'Demo' - from the Greek "demos" meaning  POPULACE or the people; and 'graphic' - relating to a written or pictorial presentation.

Briefly, demographics tell advertisers who is spending money and what they are spending it on.  And that information is so important that advertisers are willing to spend a great deal of money to get it.

On top of that, new Internet laws are cracking down on Spam (unsolicited emails).  While the laws don't have much bite to them right now, they will be stronger as time goes by.  Advertisers must look to the future.  There is so much money to be made on the Internet that merchants simply cannot afford to miss even one day of advertising.

This means they are willing to buy your permission to send you email advertising.

So they sponsor sweepstakes, or free betting games with any number of catchy and traditional names, in return for your information and the right to send you advertising.

Many advertisers get together and set aside a portion of their profits to send out as sweepstakes winnings, and you will find a profile of one such advertiser-sponsored game site at GroupLotto vs. Lottery Scams.

REMEMBER! A RESPONSIBLE ONLINE LOTTERY OR SWEEPSTAKES:
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Requires that a person register in order to play.
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Provides an online account for each player.
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Provides full corporate information so that anyone can verify licenses, registrations, complaints, corporate officers, and the existence of outside agents without relying on the claims of that corporation or agent.
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Does not require any fees to be paid in advance of disbursing winnings.
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Encourages you to talk about them - there is no confidentiality required.  On the contrary, talking about your winnings is encouraged so that others will participate.
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Does not get the winning numbers mixed up.
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Has well-defined and easy to read Rules, and the responsible corporation and/or government commission is plainly listed in these Rules so that you can research everything about that lottery or sweepstakes on your own.
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Deducts whatever expenses and/or taxes are required as listed in the Rules or under the Terms and Conditions, or are available by contacting the company.  These expenses and/or taxes are deducted from the winnings before disbursement.

CAUTION: not all sweepstakes deduct taxes - in some cases they are reported to tax authorities and it is up to the player to report winnings as income and pay the taxes accordingly.

The only agencies that can collect the taxes due on lottery winnings are the state, Province, or federal government in which the lottery games are played.

In many countries, the taxes due the federal government are immediately deducted from the winning amount.  The rules for state or Provincial taxes may vary, with some deducting the taxes before winnings are sent out, while others require the winnings be stated on the state or Province annual income tax report.

If the state, Province, or federal government requires that taxes be deducted from winnings immediately - before the money is sent to the winner - the lottery operator must comply and you can request confirmation from both the lottery operator and the appropriate government agencies that your taxes have been paid on the winnings.

Lottery scam letters often claim that you must pay for the taxes on winnings by sending money to a “claims agent” or other party.  That is a lie.  Taxes are never, ever sent to a 3rd party to be paid on your behalf, and absolutely never by Western Union or MoneyGram.  Only you can pay your taxes, and that check must be made payable to the government agency that is responsible for collecting taxes.

For instance, if you are a resident of California in the US, taxes are paid to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which collects our Federal taxes, and to the California State Franchise Tax Board, which collects our California State taxes.  Both of these are government agencies.

EXCEPT FOR TAXES YOU PERSONALLY PAY TO YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT, THE AMOUNT LISTED AS YOUR WINNING AMOUNT IS FINAL.

 

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