Topic: Email lottery scam warning

[Clive]

Security experts are warning of hoax emails informing recipients that they have won a cash prize in a lottery.

The emails typically ask the recipient to give their bank details so they can claim the prize. The messages also contain a phone number in an attempt to convince the victim that the email is genuine.

The telephone numbers used are the popular '070' numbers - these look like mobile phone numbers but in reality they can be acquired by anyone for free and redirected to any number the owner wishes, according to security firm Sophos.

"Scammers... can easily cycle through a bunch of these 'throw-away' numbers, using them to con innocent victims into revealing confidential information that can then be used to empty bank accounts and commit identity theft," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

"With 070 numbers, callers have no way - short of persuading the 070 service provider to tell them - to determine where their call ends up. They may think they are speaking to an official in London, when really they're on the phone to a scammer in Lagos," continued Cluley.

Sophos is advising users to be wary of any email telling them that they have won a prize or asking them to reveal their bank details.

http://www.sophos.com/

[Rodders]

Luckily, I just happen to have won the REAL Nigerian State Lottery, according to Lady Flatula M'boko, widow of General Cedric M'boko who was formerly head of the Nigerian treasury until his untimely death in an unfortunate moped accident near the Ikea store in Lagos.
 
I was almost on the verge of finding out how much more it was going to cost me to release the prize fund into my bank account when the credit suddenly ran out on my mobile.  Stay tuned for further news regarding my good fortune.