FAT CHANCE
Have you ever received junk mail that tells you that you've won a lump sum of money? Just to find that the cash is store credit or could only be used in a gambling casino or something.. Well if you get letters such as that in your email, it's more than natural to disregard it and click the 'delete' button. But then again, if you know that you've never entered a lottery, then naturally the chances of you winning the lottery is most likely 'very slim to none'. Anyway, I got a letter about a month ago posted from Spain (Spanish stamps and all) saying that I am one of the 17 international winners to share 3 million dollars.. Knowing me, I trashed it right away. When Adam came to visit he noticed the slip of letter in my trash bin next to my desk.. He read it and thought that it was real and kept insisting that I'd call Spain to claim the money.. the scary part is that this lottery company wants my account #. So I kept putting it off.. [I know I'd never call really..] I told my supervisor and co-worker at work, and they wanted to look at it too.. So today I brought it in and showed Sarah.. she told me to look it up online.. I found that it's a big international scam which has been going on for over 10 years, and people keep falling for it... I found a person who got this letter through his email and he was actually interested.. Here's what happened:
p/s: I got the initial letter more or less exactly as posted here..

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EL GORDO SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY COMPANY
S.L. CALLE AROYO NO. 13 PISO 4G
28030 MADRID. ESPA?A.
EL GORDO TEL: + 34 636. 347. 446 , FAX: +34 652. 460. 537
E-MAIL: el-gordo@madrid.com

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FROM: THE DESK OF THE VICE PRESIDENT.
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
BATCH: EGS/2551256003/02 , REFERENCE:14/0017/IPD
DATE: 20th OF NOVEMBER 2002

ATTENTION:

Dear Sir,

RE: AWARD FINAL NOTIFICATION.

This is to inform you on the release of the EL- GORDO DE LA PRIMITIVA LOTTERY held on the 25th of OCTOBER 2002. Due to the mix up of numbers and addresses, the results were released on the 15th of NOVEMBER 2002. Your name attached to ticket number 031-1127-841 with serial number 3214-07 drew the lucky numbers of 09 -22-37-39-41-49 which consequently won the lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of USD $ 615,810.00 ( SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) in cash credited to file with REF. NO. EGS/2551256003/02. This is from a total cash prize of USD 16,621,340.00 ( SIXTEEN MILLION SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE THOUSAND, THREE
HUNDRED AND FOURTY US DOLLARS ONLY) Shared among the thirty oneinternational winners in this category. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Your fund is now deposited with a Security Company and insured in your name. Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award from public notice until your claim has been processed and money remitted to your account as this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this program by participants as it has happened in the past. participants as it has happened in the past.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 25,000 names from Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, America Africa and North America as part of our International promotions program. We hope your lucky name will draw a bigger cash prize in the subsequent programs. draw a bigger cash prize in the subsequent programs. To begin your lottery claims,
please contact your claims agent, MR OSCAR MARTINEZ Foreign operations manager ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD S.A on Tel: +34 635116192 and Fax: +3435116193 or by e-mail: atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es for the processing and remittance of
your winning prize money to a designation of your choice. designation of your choice. Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than, 14th of DECEMBER 2002. After this date if not claimed, the fund will be returned to the MINISTERIO DE ECONOMIA Y HACIENDA. And also be informed that 10% of your Lottery Winning belongs to ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD S.A. because
they entered your name for this draw and they are your claims agent. This 10% will be remitted after you have received your winnings because the money is insured in your name already. because the money is insured in your name already. NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every correspondence with us or your agent. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as possible. An
original copy of your prize Winning Certificate will be sent to you after you have claimed your winning. Congratulations once again from all members of our staff and thank you for being a part of our International promotions program. We wish you continued good fortunes. promotions program. We wish you continued good fortunes.

Sincerely

JOSE LUIS
VICE PRESIDENT

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Mr. Luis,

I was very excited to hear I've won the lottery! I sure can use the money. Please tell me what I need to do next to claim my money.

I can't wait. Thank you for your honesty in telling me I won instead of keeping the money for yourself. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jay Taylor (not his or her real name)

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EL GORDO LOTTERY COMPANY [el-gordo@madrid.com] wrote:

SEND YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS TO
atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es
C/O MR. OSCAR MARTINEZ.
THEY WILL SEND YOU A PAYMENT PROCESSING FORM WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO COMPLETE AND FAX BACK. ALTERNATIVELY, THE FORM CAN BE SENT TO YOU BY E-MAIL IF YOU CAN RETRIEVE IT FROM THE COMPUTER.

JOSE LUIS.

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Thank you for the quick reply. Yes, please send the form as an email attachment as the fax machine I have is at work and I don't want anyone to see that I won a bunch of money or they will all try to be my friend.

Thank you.

Jay

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I have not heard back from you regarding my prize winning. Did you spend my money? I sure hope not.

Jay Taylor

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I have attached the requested form. Please send me my money.

Jay Taylor

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ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD [atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es] wrote:

YOUR COMPLETED FORM HAS BEEN RECEIVED. HOW YOU DID NOT INCLUDE A TEL OR FAX NUMBER. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PAY A NOMINAL PROCESSING FEE OF $650.00 TIS FEE WILL BE MADE PAYABLE TO THE LOTTERY COMPANY FOR AUTHENTICATION AND REGISTRATION. WE CANNOT DEDUCT THE MONEY FROM YOUR WINNING BECAUE IT IS ALREADY INSURED IN YOUR NAME. GET BACK TO US ON HOW TO PAY THIS FEE. THANK YOU.

O. MARTINEZ.

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Thank you for your quick reply. I have a proposition on the payment of the processing fee. If you pay this fee on my behalf,
I will pay you 10% of my prize money. That way, neither of us is at risk. If you do not wish to handle the fee this way, I would like to pay by credit card, that way, if something goes awry, I can have the charge canceled.

I look forward to hearing from you and receiving my money.

Jay

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ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD [atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es] wrote:

DEAR SIR, YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEM ABOUT YOUR MONEY AT ALL BECAUSE IT IS WELL SECURED AND INSURED IN YOUR OWN NAME. IF YOU WANT TO PAY THIS FEE BY CREDIT CARD, THEN PAY IT THROUGH WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER WITH CREDIT CARD. MAKE THIS TRANSFER TO OWN NAME, OSCAR MARTINEZ AND THE CITY YOU ARE SENDING THE MONEY TO IS MADRID, SPAIN. THESE ARE ALL THAT YOU NEED. AND AFTER SEND TO ME THE 10 DIDGIT MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER. YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEM AT ALL. I ASSURE YOU. AS SOON AS THIS IS DONE, AUTHORISATION WILL BE MADE TO TRANSFER YOUR MONEY INTO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT AND THE TRANSFER SLIP WILL BE FAXED TO YOU. THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN.

OSCAR MARTINEZ.

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Oscar,

I cannot believe someone would turn down a chance for 10% of 600,000 USD for advancing a measly 600 USD. It would be a good faith effort on your part and a chance to make 60,000 USD. If I worked for a large, international lottery agency like yourself, I would be offering this service to everyone that won and would retire in a very short time.

I also find it interesting that a large, international lottery agency could only accept funds via Western Union. Do you have a web page where I can pay with my credit card on a secure server? I'm afraid if a credit card is used to send money via Western Union, there is no recourse to recover the funds since it is considered a cash advance.

Again, please reconsider my proposal to advance the USD 600 fee for me so you can make your USD 60,000.

Jay

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ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD [atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es] wrote:

DEAR SIR, THIS IS OUR COMPANY POLICY. PAY THE FEE AS YOU HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO DO SO, AND YOUR FUND WILL BE TRANSFERRED. THIS 10% THAT BELONGS TO US WILL BE REMITTED AFTER YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR WINNING IN YOUR ACCOUNT BECAUSE THIS MONEY IS INSURED IN YOUR NAME. GET IS CLEAR NOW. OK.
YOU CAN COME AND WORK FOR US AND RETIRE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF YOU FEEL SO.

O. MARTINEZ.

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Exactly how does a person get a job in the scam business? Is there a school, or is it just learned by experience?
Do you ever feel guilty at all, or have you conditioned your conscious in such a way that you actually justify what you do?
Have you ever had a real job where you actually do some work for a business and they pay you according to your work load/
responsibilities? Do you make enough scamming people to buy your family what they need?

Do you think people are actually dumb enough to send $600 via Western Union to an individual that is going to give them
$600,000? How can I win a lottery that I didn't even enter? I've read a lot about these 419 scams, but you may be the
stupidest criminal yet. JUST SEND THE MONEY. Yeah, right.

Not in your lifetime, Mugu.

By they way, TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS JUST MAKES YOU
LOOK EVEN MORE STUPID THAN YOU ALREADY ARE.

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ATLANTICO GRUPO DE SEGURIDAD [atlantico.grupodeseg@lycos.es] wrote:

FUCK YOUR ASS SIR. GO TO HELL AND BURN TO ASHES. MOTHER FUCKER. LOOK AT THIS ORCHIN CALLING ME A SCAMMER WHEN I AM SURE TAHT I AM BETTER OFF THAN YOU, GAINFULLY EMPLOYED. ONCE AGAIN, GO
TO HELL AND BURN TO ASHES. STUPID ORCHIN.

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Did I mention that typing in all capital letters makes you look even more stupid? Just a plain mugu. Poor fellow. Yeah, you are living in a third world country and I'm in the greatest country in the world, and you're better off than me.....ha ha ha. I bet you have to shit in a bucket and then dump it out your window. $600 is probably three years worth of honest (do you know what that word means) work in your country.

Poor mugu.