If you
prefer a printout, download this Word .doc
file
with the suspicious
passages highlighted.
Update : I got this part right, part wrong.
Read on and find out out where and why!
I wondered
where they got the prize money from. They thanked me for participating,
but I had not sent them any money. I hadn't sent an entry fee.
Most competitions
with huge cash prizes require participants to buy tickets, they do not give
the money away.
This sounds
a very professional company: they use the internet, they claim to have gathered
50,000,000 email addresses (and many company addresses as well).
They are
so professional, so technologically up-to-date, so rich, that a number of
things strike as badly wrong:
Their computer has not been set right : the letter is dated
1997. Strange!
They
are so very professional - but they get numbers and names mixed up?
I have
never heard of this company. Have you?
They
are so well established that they cannot spell their name correctly.
It should surely be Western Atlantic, not Westhern Atlantic.
Okay, they really could be the Westhern Atlantic Consultancy.
But an Internet search found no trace of " Westhern Atlantic Consultancy".
I couldn't find the " Western Atlantic Consultancy" either! The company,
so rich it gives away millions of euros every three years, does not appear
to exist, at least not on the Internet - no wonder I've never heard of it!
They are so rich,
famous, well established and professional that they use a netscape.net free
email address? Come on, get real.
And
the whole thing, there are so many grammar mistakes. What's a 'fiducially'
agent? This does not strike as professional at all.
How do I think the
scam works?
Well,
note the need for secrecy. Don't tell anyone because you might find
that they too have received this letter. Don't tell anyone because
they might see through this, even if you didn't.
Note that
mistake, the mix up of names and numbers. You'll get the money eventually,
but not immediately.
Note the
invitation: use some of your winnings to take part in the BIG DRAW - you
could win 50 million Euro. But you must reply by January 31.
My guess
is that anyone replying will be told there are still delays in distributing
the million euro - so to be sure of your place in the 50 million lottery,
send them cash (or cheque, or credit card) now! How much
cash? I have no idea. 5000 Euro? 25,000 Euro? 100,000
Euro? Remember, you've won 1,000,000 Euro - this is small change!
And then
you'll never hear anything from them again.
That's
my guess. That's what I think will happen.
And I
could be completely wrong, this could be totally innocent, above board,
I'm just ultra-suspicious and I have thrown away my chance of a fortune.
What do
you think?
What did
you think?
What do
you think now?
Return to Now
Read On Home Page