Is this United British Lotto & North American Sweepstakes a scam???
407474
Yes, this is a scam and here is how it works. \n\nThe criminals who run the scam are a Nigerian gang. They use stolen checks from real businesses. \n\nWhen you receive one of these checks and deposit it in your bank account, your bank will verify if the account on which the check was drawn exists and has sufficient funds. This will generally be the case. Therefore after a few business days you will receive funds in your account. \n\nNow this is where it becomes really dangerous to you: You have just passed a bad check, which is *illegal* and you can go to prison for that. Furthermore, the check can and will still bounce. When that happens it is *you* and not the bank who will be liable for any losses! Checks can bounce for months after they have already "cleared" and it is the depositor who endorsed it with his signature on the back who is responsible. You vouch for the check with your signature.\n\nOnce the bank that holds the company's account forwards it to the company's accounts department they will see that it doesn't match any check they signed. They will find that it came from a stolen checkbook. They will notify their bank, which will notify your bank and the funds will be removed from your account. \n\nIf you have already withdrawn the cash and forwarded it to the criminals (they will tell you there are taxes and handling fees to be paid) then your account will be thousands of dollars in the red. It will get frozen. The bank may report you to the police. You may be charged with and prosecuted for passing bad checks and for wire fraud. \n\nIf you receive any check under an arrangement where you are to cash it and forward funds from it to the check sender or a third party nominated by the sender, you can safely assume it to be a scam. Take the check to the police. Possession of fake checks is a crime under US Federal Law.
407499
It sounds like an email that you received which is a scam. You should only play the lottery if you are in the UK and you buy a lottery ticket.\n\nPaying charges is definitely a no no!\n\nIf you get emails asking you to send money, ignore all of them.\n\nTo check, pick out some of the key words or phrases in the email and search google. Then you will have a better idea who else is getting the same email and whether it's a scam
804697
It's a scam.  Pay no attention to it.\nIf you didn't enter a contest or buy a lottery ticket, how do you expect to win it?
828000
This is a scam.\nRamakrish,.. you have six very similar questions about this uk national lottery.  The answers you are getting should all tell you that this is a scam.  Do not fall for it. \nIf you didn't enter a lottery, you cannot win a lottery.\nSee this web site about the lottery scams.\nhttp://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/known-lottery-scams-a-e/bank-giro-loterij/
57225
Why would you have to send them money for them to send you money. They way the lottery works is you give them money in advance if you are chosen then they give you money. It's nothing like you've but we need more money from you. This is definitely a scam please do not send these people or anyone you do not know money.
473981
Try 419Scam-Fake Lottery UK Scam
115203
As an American citizen, you can not win an "International Lotto." It is a scam! Delete the email and/or mark it as Spam
293472
More than likely not.  Did you enter into any lottery?  It's a scam, stay away from it.
108807
Its a probably a scam...
1055334
if you got an email saying you have wona prize for a canadalotto it is probably a scam where they will ask you for a fee before you can claim. Don't bother
1164138
It is probably a scam.  DON'T give out any bank information.  DON'T pay anyone anything to get a "prize".  You can contact the people who notified you to investigate further, but BE VERY CAREFUL.  People use things like this to cheat people out of their hard-earned money.
1036069
I'm THE most successful sweepstakes winner in the United States, and probably the world\n\nTrust me when I tell you this is a scam.  "Activation fees" are a sure sign it's a rip-off.  I've entered over 400,000 sweepstakes in nine years, and I'd never heard of Prize America until you posted this question.
805664
urgh I hate it\nI saw one today \nit was the typical \n4 times a billion over 9 times the square of the atoms in a cherry or something\nits obvious it's a scam\nI've never ever seen anybody win and even If they did, I wouldn't be surprised if the b******s hung up on them before they could claim the cash.\n\nand the presenters- get some personalities!
669798
Its a spam or worse a scam...\nThey will be looking for your personal information(its worth it to them if they can confirm that your email address works)\nOr they will ask you to pay "fees" to collect your "winnings"\n\nLotterys work like this:\n1)10,000 people pay 1 dollar/euro/pound/yen....etc\nThe lottery company now has 10,000\n\n2) the lottery company holds a draw and gives out 7,000 in winnings (and keeps the profit 3,000)\n\nScams work like this:\n-1)nobody pays money (there is no money to win)\n\n0)a scammer sends out 10,000 spam emails to tell people they have won a lottery they havn't entered.(they pretend they work for real lottery websites)\n\n2)The Scammer asks for your Personal details (be prepared! your inbox is going to be full of emails asking for you personally...and dont get me started on what they are gonna do with your Bank details!)\n\n3)The scammer tells you that you have to pay fees before you can accept the "winnings" (and NO,you cant pay out of the winnings! they dont exist!....silly maga)\n\n4)The scammer manages to con 3 people out of 1000 and gives all his profits to a charity for orphaned goats (he dosn't really...he keeps it ;) )\n\n5)Your inbox gets more mails than help@microsoft.com\nEverything from "You have won anotther sooperdooperlottry" to    "CHAN U B A NEXT OF KIN" to "Please join our company,cash our checks,send us the money until your bank realises you are laundering money for us?)\n\nThe moral of the story is...If it sounds too good to be true... It probably is
251269
Its a scam.\n\nThe area of London where "Global Towers and Heights" is meant to be is a residential area and the scam is warned about on here:\n\nhttp://www.data-wales.co.uk/nigerian_lottery.htm
471986
Basically any lottery with the word "International" or "Global" in it is a scam.\n\nLegitimate lotteries only operate within the particular territory they are licensed for (e.g. California, UK). They do *not* operate internationally or they would risk falling afoul of anti-gambling laws. For example, it is against US Federal Law to mail lottery tickets or money to purchase lottery tickets in interstate mail. US lottery winners have been prevented from claiming prizes for out of state lotteries.\n\nBecause of this you can safely assume any "international" lottery winning notice to be a scam. Most of the fake lottery scams are run by gangs from Nigeria. The fake lottery scam is a variant of the "419" scam. \n\nThis email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:\n\nThey don't notify winners by email. \nYou can't win without first buying a lottery ticket. \nThey don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to. \nThey don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you. \nThey don't tell you to call a mobile phone number. \nThey don't tell you to keep your winnings secret. \nThey will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
228287
It could very well be a scam, if it is genuine then they won't ask you for any money, and they will have an address you can write to. Have you entered a Euromillion lottery? If you haven't then be very very very cautious!!!