A belated happy new year to all.
Bloody though it has begun, a prayer--
That this be a less conflicted year
Than 2008. That there be healing.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Scam in the Mail
With all the scams that we've been reading about in the local and foreign media lately, is it any surprise that scam is in the mail too? Here's an email "notification of winning" that I received this week, on January 5th 2009, purporting to declare me a nouveau riche by multiplying my net worth several times over with South African Rands!
How many scam clues can you identify in the message I have pasted below? What would you have done, if it were you?
What did I do, upon receiving the "CONGRRATULATIONS"? First, what I had not done prior to receiving the message: I had not entered any lottery competition -- except, of course, as an end-of-year shopper at Nakumatt and Uchumi Supermarkets (got a Kshs. 250 voucher at Uchumi, to tell you the bitter truth).
Moreover, I was not even aware that an outfit such as Gidani existed. So, what I did do, being curious, was this: I did a brief Internet search. I found that Gidani does exist, in South Africa, and runs a lottery. It has a website, BUT its general email address, instructively, is: info@gidani.co.za.
I remain nouveau and riche -- in ideas -- but that's it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTH AFRICAN
FROM: THE DESK OF THE CORDINATOR
Gidani (Pty) Ltd, Private Bag X130, Halfway House, Midrand, 1685
REFERENCE NO: SANL-L/200-2741
BATCH NO: 2007OCTL#22
WINNER NO:5
OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION:
CONGRRATULATIONS!!!
DEAR WINNER:
It is obvious that this notification will come as a surprise but please read it carefully as we congratulate you on your success in the following official publication of results of the SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO E-MAIL PROMOTION organized by GIDANI (PTY) LTD, in conjunction with National Lotteries Board held on the 2nd January 2009, in SOUTH AFRICA. Your electronic email address is one of the online winning emails in the 2nd category and attracts a cash amount of R5,000,000.00 (Five Million Rand) or $600,000.00 (USD Six Hundred Thousand). Our winners are arranged into four categories: CATEGORY No OF WINNERS AMOUNT
1st 2 R9,000,000.00 each ($1,000,000.00)
2nd 8 R5,000,000.00 each ($ 600,000.00)
3rd 13 R3,000,000.00 each ($ 300,000.00)
4th 27 R1,700,000.00 each ($ 150,000.00)
We would like to advise you to contact the Processing Office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and payment of the above cash. Your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it:
(1) Award numbers: NL 56/82695
(2) BATCH NO: 2007OCT L#22
(3) REFERENCE NO: SANL-L/200-26937
For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) Name in Full
(2) Address
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Sex.
(5) Age.
(6) Occupation.
(7) Tel / Fax
To claim your winnings, please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winnings within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of receiving the winning notification become null and are void. Please quote the above mentioned particulars of your award in all correspondence to enable the LOTTO COORDINATOR to validate your winnings. *******************************************************************SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO COORDINATORDR (MRS) AMANDA COETZEE GIDANI (PTY) LTDTEL: + 27 78 074 2292E-mail: dramandacoetzee1@gmail.com OR lottoclaimsagent2@gmail.com Once again on behalf of all our staff,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Yours faithfully,
Dr. (Mrs.) AMANDA COETZEE
SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO CORDINATOR
------------------------------ -----------------------
Gidani, the National Lottery Operator works in Collaboration with the National Lotteries Board to ensure that the most effective services are offered to all Electronic players all around the world.
100860 8556 2548 9576ZA
How many scam clues can you identify in the message I have pasted below? What would you have done, if it were you?
What did I do, upon receiving the "CONGRRATULATIONS"? First, what I had not done prior to receiving the message: I had not entered any lottery competition -- except, of course, as an end-of-year shopper at Nakumatt and Uchumi Supermarkets (got a Kshs. 250 voucher at Uchumi, to tell you the bitter truth).
Moreover, I was not even aware that an outfit such as Gidani existed. So, what I did do, being curious, was this: I did a brief Internet search. I found that Gidani does exist, in South Africa, and runs a lottery. It has a website, BUT its general email address, instructively, is: info@gidani.co.za.
I remain nouveau and riche -- in ideas -- but that's it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUTH AFRICAN
FROM: THE DESK OF THE CORDINATOR
Gidani (Pty) Ltd, Private Bag X130, Halfway House, Midrand, 1685
REFERENCE NO: SANL-L/200-2741
BATCH NO: 2007OCTL#22
WINNER NO:5
OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION:
CONGRRATULATIONS!!!
DEAR WINNER:
It is obvious that this notification will come as a surprise but please read it carefully as we congratulate you on your success in the following official publication of results of the SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO E-MAIL PROMOTION organized by GIDANI (PTY) LTD, in conjunction with National Lotteries Board held on the 2nd January 2009, in SOUTH AFRICA. Your electronic email address is one of the online winning emails in the 2nd category and attracts a cash amount of R5,000,000.00 (Five Million Rand) or $600,000.00 (USD Six Hundred Thousand). Our winners are arranged into four categories: CATEGORY No OF WINNERS AMOUNT
1st 2 R9,000,000.00 each ($1,000,000.00)
2nd 8 R5,000,000.00 each ($ 600,000.00)
3rd 13 R3,000,000.00 each ($ 300,000.00)
4th 27 R1,700,000.00 each ($ 150,000.00)
We would like to advise you to contact the Processing Office immediately upon receipt of this message for more information concerning the verification, processing and payment of the above cash. Your award information was released with the following particulars attached to it:
(1) Award numbers: NL 56/82695
(2) BATCH NO: 2007OCT L#22
(3) REFERENCE NO: SANL-L/200-26937
For verification purpose be sure to include:
(1) Name in Full
(2) Address
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Sex.
(5) Age.
(6) Occupation.
(7) Tel / Fax
To claim your winnings, please contact your Validating Officer for VALIDATION of your winnings within Twenty-nine working days of this winning notification. Winnings that are not validated within Twenty-nine working days of receiving the winning notification become null and are void. Please quote the above mentioned particulars of your award in all correspondence to enable the LOTTO COORDINATOR to validate your winnings. *******************************************************************SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO COORDINATORDR (MRS) AMANDA COETZEE GIDANI (PTY) LTDTEL: + 27 78 074 2292E-mail: dramandacoetzee1@gmail.com OR lottoclaimsagent2@gmail.com Once again on behalf of all our staff,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Yours faithfully,
Dr. (Mrs.) AMANDA COETZEE
SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL LOTTO CORDINATOR
------------------------------ -----------------------
Gidani, the National Lottery Operator works in Collaboration with the National Lotteries Board to ensure that the most effective services are offered to all Electronic players all around the world.
100860 8556 2548 9576ZA
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