It seems the scammers are turning to SMS scams, now that emails scams are not fooling anyone any more. We had the Maxwell Fund scam moving towards using SMS messages to snag people, and now there is this.
Amazingly, I actually received this SMS message myself today – normally I get sent them as these fools really are wasting their time contacting me 🙂
Text reads;
“Congratulations! Your mobile number has won the sum of $1,000,000 in our Atlantic Mobile Lotto. Contact us via email on atlanticmobiledraws@gmail.com for claim.”
The phone number is (44)07484638724 (tried calling, it went to voicemail and said mailbox was full)
- An official lotto wouldn’t use Gmail
- As if!
I will post the crux of the scam when they reply as it’s not clear how they would blag money from me but it is a SCAM and they will probably try to get me to buy something to become eligible for the prize.
More on this one soon…. 🙂
UPDATE: 15/08/2016
One of my awesome commenters sent me the email these goons forward to you if you reply to the text – big thanks to Nikki.
Atlantic Lottery Corporation 14th August 2016
PO Box 5500
922 Main Moncton, N.B.
E1C 8W6
CANADA
Dear Prize Winner,
Congratulations to you from the entire staff here at Atlantic Lottery, in your acquisition of One Million U.S. Dollars only ($1,000,000.00 USD) in our Mobile Promotional Draw held in New York ,U.S.A on Wednesday 10, August 2016.Your Mobile number with serial number 3422/16 drew the lucky numbers: 16-24-27-40-41-42 Bonus 23, which subsequently won you the lottery in the Atlantic 49 Category of this promotion. All Mobile numbers used for this lottery draw,were selected randomly from Worldwide Telecommunication companies.
The Atlantic Mobile Promotional program takes place weekly and the program is held to financially support individuals worldwide due to the global financial crisis, the draw process is carried out by our Computerized Ballot System and all winners were randomly selected from a series of three million mobile numbers from different continent. You should count yourself lucky that your mobile phone number was among the five(5) lucky numbers that was selected to win $1,000,000.00 USD each in the August 2016 edition of this program. Be informed that your winning prize money also comes with other consolation prizes such as a Atlantic Lotto T-Shirt, Face Cap and a Atlantic Lotto Customized Apple iPhone 6S {Courtesy of Apple}.
Following our claims procedures, a Certified Bank Check will be issued in your name after your claim information have been verified and approved by the Lottery Corporation Payment Service (L.C.P.S). Below is our WINNER CLAIM FORM which you are required to fill and return back to us for proper verification and processing of your claim.The requested information are needed for reference purpose, update of our record and to avoid any misrepresentation of fact which might lead to disqualification or double claims. You MUST be 18 years of age or older to claim this prize. To proceed with the release of your winnings to you, kindly fill up the details below and return to us via email:
WINNER CLAIM FORM:
1. Full Name:
2. Contact Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Winning Mobile No:
6. Sex:
7. Marital Status:
8. Occupation:
9. Amount Won:
Upon the receipt of the required information, we will immediately commence with verification and processing of your claim so as to facilitate payment to you. All winners are expected to comply with the claims procedures, as these are mere formalities that would guarantee pay out to all qualified winners in the various category. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until your claim is processed and your money remitted to you, this is part of our precautionary measure to avoid unwarranted abuse to this program by some unscrupulous elements.
Congratulations once again.
Sincerely,
Alan Mitchelson (Mr)
Claim Processing Officer
Atlantic Lottery Corporation
And the email looks as follows;
I am contacting the official Atlantic Lottery people to see if they are aware of this scam – stay tuned for updates!
EDIT Nikki got sent another email with attachments, here it is – this also clears up the scam, as in this email they mention a delivery cost which they will try and get you/me/anyone to pay. This is how they make their money!
You’d pay £500 (or whatever they will try and charge) if you thought it would get you £1million!
Dear User
This is to acknowledge the receipt of your e-mail with the duly completed “Winner Claim Form”. We are delighted to inform you that you have been approved and cleared as the rightful winner of $1,000,000.00 USD which is equivalent to £781,526.65 GBP by our Winning Verification Department (WVD). Attached here is a copy of your “Winning Notification Letter” and the Lotto result. Also be informed that your Winning Certified Bank Check,Original Winning Certificate, Clear Source of Funds Certificate [C.S.F.C.] and other consolation prizes such as Atlantic Lotto T-shirt, Face-Cap and an Apple iPhone 6S has been forwarded to our affiliated courier company for delivery to you. For security reasons, your Winning Parcel has been securely sealed by us. Find below the contact details of the Courier Company:
Courier Name: Citynew Logistic Service
Contact Person: Steven Kramer [Dispatch Director]
E-MAIL: dispatch@citynew.com
You are advised to send the courier service an e-mail (dispatch@citynew.com) for their “Delivery Cost”.When contacting them,you are to include the below “Claim Reference Number” as your subject.You are also advised to write down the Claim Reference Number and save it.
Claim Reference No: AL849938110
Note: When contacting them you are to quote your Full Names,Claims Reference Number, Contact/Delivery Address and your Mobile Number so that they can honor your e-mail and attend to your Order.
Once again i say congratulations and always update me on your dealings with the courier company.
Yours Truly,
Alan Mitchelson (Mr)
Claim Processing Officer
Atlantic Lottery Corporation Inc
The two attachments were as follows;
Will post the official statement when it lands…
This lottery is not a scam, but if you are UK based and get an email or text message about a CANADIAN lottery…. think about it 🙂
EDIT – 29th 09 2016 – The official statement has landed!
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email and bringing this to our attention. This is not be a legitimate message from Atlantic Lottery. In order to win a prize through Atlantic Lottery, you would physically have to purchase a draw lottery ticket through one of our retail locations in Atlantic Canada.
Unfortunately there are many scams out there trying to get money and personal information from people, pretending to be Atlantic Lottery and other lotteries across the world.
There is nothing we can do about this issue, however we do have a number for a company called PhoneBusters: 1-888-495-8501. Their job is to deal with these scammers. If you would like, you can give them a call to report the email you received if it does appear to be a scam.
Also, here is the anti-fraud center’s website with this exact scam listed. It looks like they are aware and are warning people of this scam. http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
If we can be of further assistance please let us know.
Thanks,
