Hong Kong Mobile Lotto - Text/SMS scam

Details of a scam text/SMS received from +447500276358 :

Your mobile number won 850,000 USD in the Hong Kong Mobile Lotto awards, to claim email to [email protected] Quote claim code Q77HK

If you receive this text/SMS, please be aware that it is a scam. You have not won 850,000 USD - the scammers want you to believe that you have won so that they can steal your money by requiring you to pay processing fees etc to claim the non-existent prize.

Yes, it's true! I have also won $850,000 on the Hong Kong mobile Lotto, - even though the mobile number that won is one that only 1 organisation knows the number of and is kept for emergency use only. Of course, I haven't acted on the SMS as it can only be a scam to either at best bombard you with spam or at worst to try and get your sensitive information from you. There is no such thing as free money!

It must be doing the rounds - I have just won 850,000 USD too. Just email [email protected]. Thought it was probably a scam too. As you say nothing is for free and will just be a fishing expedition to get personal information and money from you to process. Delete and ignore the text as I have done.

These are the scam emails sent by the scammers :

From [email protected] :

HK MOBILE LOTTO.
Level 20, Tower 1,
Kowloon Commerce Centre,
51 Kwai Cheong Road
Hong Kong.


Congratulations!!!

We wish to congratulate you for being one of the lucky winners in this season's mobile lotto promotion. This is an independent promotion and is unconnected to any publication. No purchase necessary.In general, foreign, public or private organizations are eligible to receive HK Mobile awards. Upon completion of the claim, your documents will be checked and we will endeavour to deliver your award within 5 days.

HK Mobile Lotto grants you the Winner a personal, non-transferable and exclusive right to claim this prize for yourself; provided that you do not (and do not allow any third party to) copy, modify, or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sub license, grant a security interest in or otherwise transfer any right in the claiming of the prize.

You have been approved to receive the prize money of eight hundred and fifty thousand United States Dollars. To begin the registration/claim process of your prize, you are required to fill and send the claims form below in bold and be advised to keep all winnings confidential during the processing of your claims until you receive your prize. All submitted information is kept in the strictest confidence. No part of the information provided will be given out to any third party.

FILL THE FORM AND SEND IT BACK IMMEDIATELY BY EMAIL.

Names....................................................................................................................

Gender:.................................................................................................................

Occupation:..............................................................................................................

Address..................................................................................................................

Mobile number:.........................................................................................................

Claim code ...................................................................................................................


DECLARATION

I ____________________________________hereby confirm that all the information given above is to the best of my knowledge and is true and correct. Any falsification of the above data renders this claim invalid and void. .
______________________
date.

Exclusions
Claimants displaying conducts considered improper when replying will be ignored and disqualified.



Susan Chu
Promotion Manager
© Hong Kong Mobile Lotto

and

HK MOBILE LOTTO.
Level 20, Tower 1,
Kowloon Commerce Centre,
51 Kwai Cheong Road
Hong Kong.


Claiming your prize:

Outlined herein are the Terms and Conditions for the Hong Kong Mobile Promotion. This is an independent promotion. No purchase necessary. You must be over the age of 18 to claim.
All winnings must be claimed not later than the stipulated deadline (XXXXXX). Any entries without valid collection numbers will be declared void. Any entry late, lost or tampered with will be declared void. Upon completion of the claim, your documents will be checked and we will endeavour to deliver your winnings within 5 days.

We have laid down procedure for sending out winnings and it is listed below, you are to choose from the 2 options.

Option 1: Bank Transfer.
Your winnings of $850,000.00 (eight hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars) will be transferred by wire to your bank account.


Option 2: Cheque by Courier.
Your winnings will be a sealed bank draft of $850,000.00 (eight hundred and fifty thousand United States dollars) issued out in your name and will be couriered to you through a secured delivery option.
Due to recent governmental security and monetary control policies, we are compelled to utilise the service of the government endorsed postal service of the Hong Kong Post to deliver the cheque.

Note: Hong Kong Post does not operate cash on delivery service. Delivery charge is $850 USD including insurance.

Please confirm acceptance of this rule, let us know by reply email and we will forward the cheque and your details to the Hong Kong Post and they will contact you to confirm your details and cover their charges. Delivery takes 24hrs.




Susan Chu
Promotion Manager
© Hong Kong Mobile Lotto

Header analysis indicates that those emails were sent from Hong Kong :

Header Analysis Quick ReportOriginating IP: 103.246.114.72Originating ISP: Dedicated Server & Server Co-location City: n/aCountry of Origin: Hong Kong* For a complete report on this email header goto ipTRACKERonline

And from [email protected] :

Dear XXXXXXXX

We have just received an instruction to mail a parcel from the Nokia International
Claims Dept containing your cheque, documents backing your winnings. You must
confirm to us the address to deliver to by reply email.
Due to the nature of the contents of the parcel, Hong Kong law mandates
that insurance be taken out on it.

Below you will find the break down of the costs.


Insurance Cost: $ 680
==============================================
Sub total: $ 680

Shipping Cost: $ 170
===============================================
Total: $ 850

You are required to make this payment via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.

Click on the link below to find the closest western union agent to you.

http://www.westernunion.com/info/selectCountry.asp



Locate the Western Union Agent in your city.
Go to the nearest Western Union Agent's Outlet and fill up a
Send Money Form. Under "Receiver", fill in the following:

FIRST NAME: SAM
LAST NAME: JOHNSON
ADDRESS: 2 CONNAUGHT PLACE
COUNTRY: HONG KONG.

The following payment information should be sent to this office via email.

NAME OF SENDER:
ADDRESS OF SENDER:
AMOUNT SENT:
MONEY TRANSFER CONTROL NUMBER:

You are to send to us the above information via email for confirmation of
payment done by you, and once our Accounts department confirms your payment
your parcel will be delivered to you.

Sincerely,
Liu Shan Yao
Manager CRE Operations
HONG KONG POSTAL SERVICE
Copyright © Hong Kong Post Group Ltd 2012. All rights reserved.

Header analysis indicates that the above email was sent from the UK :

Header Analysis Quick ReportOriginating IP: 188.29.179.167Originating ISP: Three City: LondonCountry of Origin: United Kingdom* For a complete report on this email header goto ipTRACKERonline

As previously stated, this is a scam. Please do not send $850.00 via Western Union to these scammers.