Dave
New Westminster,#2Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 08, 2006
For a good article on how/why the scam operates, go to the FBI website and search for "lottery". File a complaint on the FTC website. Include all details. There's little they can do. If they do happen to catch the people, you want to be sure that your report mentions names, dates, numbers that can be used to put them away, and maybe get some restitution. There's no such thing as an International Lottery. Such a thing would be illegal. From the FTC website: The FTC has these words of caution for consumers who are thinking about responding to a foreign lottery: * If you play a foreign lottery through the mail or over the telephone you're violating federal law. * There are no secret systems for winning foreign lotteries. Your chances of winning more than the cost of your tickets are slim to none. * If you purchase one foreign lottery ticket, expect many more bogus offers for lottery or investment opportunities. Your name will be placed on sucker lists that fraudulent telemarketers buy and sell. * Keep your credit card and bank account numbers to yourself. Scam artists often ask for them during an unsolicited sales pitch. The bottom line, according to the FTC: Ignore all mail and phone solicitations for foreign lottery promotions. If you receive what looks like lottery material from a foreign country, give it to your local postmaster.