TSGL: {Spam?} RE: Lottery win or PHISHing attempt?

[Russell W. Coover]

The email came from Canada, not Minnesota (note the ".ca" in the address. 

It appears that this may not be an actual "phishing" attempt, just an
attempt to steal some of your hard earned money ... "Winner pays" (charges
or costs), but they might use any information that you voluntarily send them
to steal your identity in addition. But the fact is, this is not much
different than the hundreds of emails I have received (and ignored)
proclaiming that I have won hundred of thousands or millions of dollars,
pounds, or euros. They all want me to send them money to process the cost of
transferring the money to my account ... oh, by the way, they need my bank
account number to make the transfer (this would be phishing).

Russ Coover  

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Chuck Neuenschwander
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 12:49 PM
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: TSGL: Lottery win or PHISHing attempt?

here's an unusual one for you guys......
  I received this email and and figure it is a PHISHing attempt.
  The fact that it comes from   mnstatelotto at yahoo.ca
  is about the only thing I see that really tips me off.
  These things continue to get more sophisticated all the time.
  No wonder that many computer novices are confused as to what to do.
  SNOPES.com has an article on international lotteries that is similar, but
not quite the same. I did a lot of GOOGLE searching and found nothing yet.
The misspellings  LOTERRY and   Sweepstake  and  UNTILL  and a few others
are tipoffs.  What do the rest of you think?
  -chuck
   
   
          From:   "Minnesota State Lottery" <mnstatelotto at yahoo.ca>
Subject:  Congratulations...    Date:  Fri, 7 Mar 2008 05:00:46 +0100    To:
#message5796045928517861352083612324552942422523oSOYkYn4Ur6Rg9SuJfSMZylF0qCf
lZIAhxTnM9GZ8Qb9LpzfSfX8MG6vcs3KDEesylUZz31Bz3kddK4GOKf7N1xXpD9laTsajuA2bkhS
pmUhohv90wvtaNxaH6Fh0HrD88eTqA5twMfkp1TjxN2YLB9txzA5Nay3UQ { overflow:auto;
visibility:hidden }  
  
MINNESOTA STATE LOTTERY-  Headquarters  2645 Long Lake Road  Roseville, MN
55113  Phone: (310) 464-1817     WINNING NOTIFICATION:    We happily
announce to you the draw of the Minnesota State Loterry   Sweepstake Lottery
program held on the 6th of March, 2008 in Roseville, MN.   Your e-mail
address attached to ticket number: 982-973-2572 with   Serial number 08/02
drew the lucky numbers: 19-6-26-17-35-7, which   subsequently won you the
lottery in the 2nd category. Our State Phone-book   provided us with
numerous entries in which our automated selector picked   your e-mail and
placed you in the ballot system, therefore   CONGRATULATIONS!!!    You have
therefore been approved to claim a total sum of $940,000.00   (Nine Hundred
and Forty Thousand United States Dollars) in cash credited   to file
pym/9023118308/03 which has been paid into an account held at   Wells Fargo
Bank. This is from a total cash prize of $4,700,000.00,   shared amongst the
first five (5) lucky winners
 in this category.    All participants were selected randomly from Minnesota
State website   through computer draw system and extracted from Minnesota
State Residents   Directory. This promotion takes place annually. Please
note that your   lucky winning number falls within the United States Lottery
System and   has therefore been deposited into a bank account held at Wells
Fargo   Bank. Therefore, you are permitted to either request your money
being   transferred into your nominated bank account ( Winner pays charges
for   Wire Transfer ) or rather have it Drafted into a Cashiers Check and
have   it mailed to you directly ( Winner pays Drafting & Mailing Costs ).
You are advised to keep this information confidential untill after your
claim has been completed as any other individual whom submits same   ticket
numbers and serial numbers can be paid without any verification as   you
have been warned. In order to have your winnings processed, kindly   reply
to this e-mail
 by filling the form below :    FULL NAME:  ADDRESS LINE1:  ADDRESS LINE2:
CITY:  STATE:  ZIP CODE:  HOME PHONE NUMBER:  CELL PHONE NUMBER:  HOW DO YOU
INTEND BEING PAID? ( WIRE TRANSFER OR CASHIERS CHECK )   PLEASE SELECT ONE.
Kindly reply to this e-mail and also remember to include your ticket
number along with your serial number in order to avoid any delays towards
processing your payment. You can aswell contact the Lottery   Co-ordinator
via the contact phone number stated above.    Sincerely,  DAVE MORGAN.
Minnesota State Lottery Co-ordinator 

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