Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Polly Microsoft No 5

Good Afternoon Boy's and Girl's!

It's time for Polly's second warning about the world of modern technology!

Here is a sample of some of the spam I've been collecting recently. I wrote about a Spanish Lottery win back in December 2007; the third such attempt to defraud me of a substantial amount of money. The only difference between those and this is that initially they arrived in hard copy through snail mail.

More recently I have received a few more of these alarmingly amateurish con's. They have been from the estate of long lost relatives, whom I never knew I had, to the latest which is actually quite worrying; because it purports to originate from the Microsoft Corporation.

As is usual, in con-jobs like this, the "winner's" are required to keep their good fortune secret until the ins and outs of their winnings are officially sorted out. It will come as no surprise to most of us that the crooks who organise these scams will be long gone by the time everything is sorted out, having perpetrated some degree of fraud and identity theft.

The best thing that any of us can do to prevent these so and so's from winning is be careful about where we publish our details and who we give our e-mail addresses to. Secondly, if you are the lucky recipient of one such e-mail/letter give it loads of publicity and blow the operation out of the water. If more people are made aware of these scams the fewer will suffer as a result of their own naivety.

In relation to today's e-mail I forwarded a copy of it to our local Microsoft office in Dublin, which I think is probably the best thing to do in this case. At least the real Microsoft can take steps to protect themselves and the public.

As the official Spanish state lottery agents have stated on several occasions "If you're not in you can't win!", ie if you do not have a ticket stub in your possession you are NOT a winner. Like I said yesterday; it's a big bad world out there and its boundaries are getting closer each day, which is why these scoundrels are inviting themselves into our homes.

Protect yourself by installing a decent firewall programme, anti-spam wear and the like. If like me you're out there promoting yourself, use a secondary e-mail address rather than give out your personal one and be careful who you provide your personal details to. Don't let the blighter's grind you down...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLDWIDE AWARD PROGRAM 2007
E-MAIL PROMOTIONS / PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
AND AWARD PRESENTATION CENTER, UNITED KINGDOM ,
MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD LOTTERY,

REFERENCE NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH NO: 2005SEPT#22
SECURITY CODE NO: MSW/FEB/XX06

WINNER NO: 5

ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION.

Microsoft Corporation Management Worldwide are pleased to inform you
of the result of our ANNUAL MS-WORD LOTTO LOTTERY held on 20th February,
2008. Your E-mail / Your Company E-mail / Name attach to Ticket Number
:ESPL/89877676 with Serial Number: S/N-00168, Batch Number: 2005 SEPT#22,
Reference Number: MSW-L/200-26937 and drew lucky Numbers 3-5-9-17-22-32
which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been
approved for a lump sum pay out of US$500.000,00 (Five Hundred Thousand
United States Dollar Only).

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims has been processed and your
money remitted to your account. This is part of our security protocol
to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn
from over 40,000 companies and 20,000,000 individuals email addresses
and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place
every year. This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Microsoft Corporation
Management Worldwide as to encourage the use of Internet. We hope with
part of your winning, you will take part in our next year US$40,000,000,00
(Forty Million United States Dollars) international lottery.
To file for your claim, please contact our Processing Agent in Charges
of your Zone. Your agent contact information is stated below and be
sure to include this information's in yourcontact to the Agent:-

(1) Your contact address...............
(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers..........
(3) Your Nationality/Country........
{4} Your Full Names..........
(5) Occupation.............
(6) Bank name..............
(7) Bank Addres...........
(8) Bank account number..........
(9) Bank Swift code................

*******************************************************************
MR.DEMBELE SAIDOU.
MICROSOFT CLAIMING AGENT BAMAKO MALI.
E-mail: claimingagentml@yahoo.fr / E-mail: claming_agentml@voila.fr
********************************************************************


Note: Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications,
please remember to quote your Security Code Number / Reference number
/ Batch number in all correspondence to your agent, Mr. Dembele Saidou
via E-mail: claimingagentml@yahoo.fr / E-mail: claming_agentml@voila.fr
Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform your agent
as soon as possible. Congratulations once more from our staff and thank
you for being part of our promotional program.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so suspicious, I rarely believe any of what I hear and only half of what I read. Oft times when someone tells me about one of these scams and I inform them it IS a scam (of course, sweetly and without being condescending) they resent me. Some people just want so badly to believe this kinda malarky.

Thanks for the suggestions on how to protect ourselves. :)

Up The Garden Path said...

You should read the BBC's John Simpson's new book. He decided to go down to Spain to "collect" his "winnings". He was obviously fully aware of what was going on. Amusing anecdote.

Polly Pierce said...

Hey guys thanks for commenting! I'm inclined to agree with you about cynicism Friday.

I did once get caught up in the excitement generated by a pre-recorded telephone message. The kids got wind of it and insisted that we replied to the call.Stupidly I knew it was a scam and I still allowed myself to be conned - it cost me all of €24.00 - ouch!

Jean, I think I might just look up your John Simpson book; maybe via my Amazon associates book club?