Notification from the US Lottery

I'm honestly not sure where to dump this topic, so here goes... For a few days now, my Google email has been getting hit with notifications claiming I won £600,000 from some British lottery. Apparently, they just pull random email addresses out of thin air and want me to contact an "official" to provide my personal details and whatnot. Look, I haven't been naive for a long time; this is either a bad joke or a blatant attempt at identity theft or a bank heist. It’s 99.99%
scam. But still... there's that nagging 1% of doubt. A friend once tossed a notice in the trash thinking it was just a flyer for $33 from a cosmetics company, only to find out after they called her that she'd actually missed out on something real 😁... so, has anyone else here dealt with similar emails? What's your take on this?

Laura Palmer25 said:What do you guys think is actually going on here?

Honestly, if you ask me, the odds of this being some kind of elaborate setup or a total hoax are so incredibly slim they're practically non-existent.🙂

Just copy and paste that email into Google. It’ll pull up an entire page detailing all those common online scams out there. That was actually my own work 😉

I mean, let’s be real here—nobody is just handing out massive sums of cash by randomly pulling email addresses out of a hat... I certainly wouldn't be touching that with a ten-foot pole, especially when it comes to handing over any kind of sensitive data or personal info. Honestly, they should just cut a check to someone else entirely; besides, I’m assuming you aren't even an American citizen, which would likely create a mountain of bureaucratic headaches when it comes to actually collecting any supposed "prize."

Laura Palmer25 said:I’m really not sure where to post this, so I’ll just leave it here... For a few days now, my Yahoo email has been getting notifications claiming I won £600,000 from some British lottery. Apparently, they were just picking random email addresses out of thin air and want me to contact an official to provide my basic info and everything. Honestly, I haven't been naive for a long time; this is either a joke or some kind of attempt at identity theft or a bank scam involving my address details... 99.99% chance it's fake.
But still... there's that tiny 1% of doubt left in the back of my mind. Once, a friend of mine threw away a notice thinking it was just a new catalog from a cosmetics company, only to find out later it was actually a legitimate prize $33—it was already too late by then 😁... so, has anyone else received emails like this? What do you all think is going on?

Dear Justin Peterson9,

With all due respect, we want to inform you that our office has no interest in your most precious money.

You have won a cash amount of £600,000 and we have it held right here in our vault, but we have no legal authority to make any deductions from the proceeds for security protocols. The funds are secured ahead of our banking receipt.

However, under standard transfer procedures, you must pay a fee for lost applications as mentioned in the initial bank email. This is our banking protocol that must be respected by clients according to all domestic and international regulations.

We will firmly and irrevocably guarantee the release of your precious funds as soon as the fee is paid. It will only take 48 hours for you to receive the money once the payment is made.

If you are ready to send the fee, please kindly use the information provided regarding how to pay the fee via Western Union transfer.

We will also send you a telegram confirmation once we have initiated the transfer, along with a letter of indemnity to your bank confirming that the funds were obtained from legal sources without any other illegal transactions.

Please note that we only handle transfers for legal funds such as yours. If you do not wish to receive this money, please send us a letter of discontinuation stating that you have requested our bank to return your prize winnings to the United Kingdom National Lottery fund to prevent any future legal accusations against us in court.

Keep in mind that you only have 24 hours from now to respond to this urgent notice to ensure your trust is returned as soon as possible. Should you have any further obstacles or inquiries, please contact us by phone or email; I would be happy to assist you.

I expect the payment information in the shortest time possible. Attached are the award confirmations prepared by the United Kingdom National Lottery board to prove you are the rightful winner, as well as your deposit certificate showing that your won prize is being held here at our bank.

Time is running out; let us serve you better.

Looking forward to your prompt response!

Signed, Contract,
Mr. Tony Flow for
Wema bank stingy.

What did you do? Send it to my address justin.peterson9@cutuk.net because my husband says it's a total scam.

Dear Susan,

With all due respect, ma'am, we wanted to let you know that our office has absolutely no interest in touching your windfall money.

You have won a sum of $600,000 USD, which we are currently holding here in our vault, though we don't have any legal authority to deduct any fees from the funds to ensure protocol security. The cash is fully secured pending its arrival at our bank.

However, under standard transfer procedures, you are required to cover the lost application fees mentioned in the initial bank email. This is simply our banking protocol, which all clients must follow according to both domestic and international regulations.

We can firmly and irrevocably guarantee the release of your funds as soon as the fee is settled. It will be handled entirely by you, and once the payment is made, you should receive the funds within 48 hours.

If you are ready to proceed with the fee, please kindly use the information provided regarding how to complete the payment via Western Union.

Once we initiate the transfer, we will send you a telegram confirmation along with an official letter sent to your bank verifying that these funds were obtained through legal channels and involve no illicit transactions.

Please keep in mind that we only facilitate transfers for legitimate funds such as yours. If you decide you no longer wish to receive this money, just send us a formal notice of discontinuation stating that you want our bank to return your prize winnings to the United States National Lottery, thereby preventing any future legal claims against us in court.

Please note that you only have 24 hours from the receipt of this urgent notice to respond so that we can restore your trust as quickly as possible. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call us or send an email; I would be more than happy to assist you.

I look forward to receiving your payment details at your earliest convenience. Attached to this message are the award confirmations prepared by the United States National Lottery Board to prove you are the rightful winner, as well as your deposit certificate showing that your winnings are being held right here in our bank.

Time is running out; please allow us to serve you better.

Looking forward to your prompt reply!

Signed per the Contract,
Mr. Tony Flow for
Wema bank stingy.

What do you guys think about this?

Dear Susan,

With all due respect, ma'am, we would like to inform you that our office has no interest in your prize money itself.

You have won a cash amount of $600,000 USD, which we are currently holding here in our vault, but we lack the legal authority to deduct any processing fees from the winnings to ensure protocol security. The funds are fully secured pending their arrival at our bank.

However, under standard transfer procedures, you are required to cover the lost application fees mentioned in the initial bank email. This is a standard banking protocol that must be followed by clients in accordance with all domestic and international regulations.

We will firmly and irrevocably guarantee the release of your prize money as soon as the fee is paid. It will only take 48 hours for you to receive the funds once that payment has been processed.

If you are ready to send the fee, please kindly use the information provided regarding how to complete the payment via Western Union.

We will also send you a telegram confirming the transfer once it has been initiated, along with a letter sent to your bank verifying that the funds were obtained from legitimate sources and are free from any illegal transactions.

Please note that we only handle transfers for legal funds such as yours. If you do not wish to receive this money, please send us a formal discontinuation letter stating that you request our bank to return your prize winnings to the United States National Lottery fund, thereby preventing any future legal claims against us in court.

Keep in mind that you have only 24 hours from now to respond to this urgent notice and restore our confidence as quickly as possible. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to call us or write to us via email; I would be more than happy to assist you.

I look forward to receiving your payment information at your earliest convenience. Attached are the prize confirmations prepared by the United States National Lottery Board to prove you are the rightful winner, as well as your deposit certificate showing that your prize is being held right here in our bank.

Time is running out, so please let us know how we can best serve you.

Looking forward to your prompt response!

Signed, the Contract,
Mr. Tony Flow for
Wema Bank.

goldentiger16 said:Just copy and paste that email into Google. It’ll pull up an entire page detailing all those online scams. I actually put that together myself. 😉

thumbs

I suspect this is a total scam 🤷
I'm pretty certain about it 🙏

I kept getting these notifications from some guy named Richard over at LotteryWin, hitting my Gmail maybe twice a day. I just ignored them every single time until, after about the fiftieth attempt, they finally stopped. 🤷
Don't bother responding. It's just a bunch of junk mail.

It's a scam—100,000% certain. Just a couple of weeks ago, my Law & Tech professor mentioned this exact scenario during a lecture on cybercrime and digital fraud 😉

They say every single minute, somewhere on this planet, a new fool or an optimist is born. 😁

I suppose those folks over at LotteryWin have it easy; they’re never going to hit rock bottom. 😂

People, I am begging you, please stop falling for these ridiculous scams!
Our corporate inbox gets hit with several of these supposed "financial windfall" notifications every single day, and I find it highly improbable—if not impossible—that we just happen to be the lucky recipients on such a regular basis.
It is all a coordinated setup; they are either attempting to extort money from you or, more likely, trying to plant malware to completely wreck your computer.
Please, do not engage with them, and under no circumstances should you provide any personal data.
In my opinion, the safest course of action is to avoid opening emails from unknown senders entirely; simply delete them immediately.
Believe me, I have personally deleted thousands of these over the years, and I am absolutely certain that not a single one of them was legitimate!