Massachusetts State Lottery "spoof" page lures in unsuspecting victims. July 9, 2003: 3:35 PM EDT By Les Christie, CNN/Money Contributing Writer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - On the eve of one of the biggest jackpot drawings in history, a Powerball game that could bring the lucky winner $250 million, it was revealed that international scamsters have perpetrated an elaborate fraud using the Massachusetts lottery Web site as their cats paw. A spokesperson for the Mass lottery, Amy Morris, says that the lottery has received "well over 200 e-mails" to date from people contacted, with calls from Australia, New Zealand, Wales, and elsewhere beginning to trickle in. Only a handful of these have actually provided financial information to the scamsters, but they represent what Morris thinks is just a small percentage of those victimized. Here's how the scam -- which has been running for months -- worked. A message would appear in your e-mail box from "administrator" advising you that you had won $30,000 from the Massachusetts State Lottery. The missive directs you to the "official" Web site of the Massachusetts lottery at mass-lottery.org (the authentic site is at masslottery.com) and includes a user name and password that you can supposedly use to claim your prize. The fake site looks authentic in every detail and features some of the same valid links and articles as the official page. (Advancing technology has made it increasingly easy to copy Web pages, which scam artists use to obtain personal information in a scheme now known as "spoofing." Other frequently spoofed sites include PayPal, eBay, and Priceline.com.) When you log in to collect your prize, however, it's a whole new ballgame. You're faced with a message congratulating you on your "spectacular luck." The text is rife with spelling and grammatical errors, typos, and awkward phrasing, the first hint that something isn't kosher. But the big tip-off comes next. The message states that "if you are a US resident, not resident in the State of Massachusetts, you'll br (sic) required to pay the US$500.00 gaming tax. If you are receiving from outside the united states (sic), you will have to pay US$100.00 foreign gaming tax." Those who continue on after being notified of the advance payment will also be asked to give up a credit card number, social security number, and other personal information. On some levels the fraud could hardly be called sophisticated. One target, Memphis attorney Robert Weiss, was contacted through his hotmail account where his user name is Bob51. "The e-mail began Dear Bob51," he says. Suspicious from the start, Weiss says he found a lot of things didn't add up, but he really smelled a rat when he went through the steps he needed to complete to collect his prize. "So I went on a search and found the real Massachusetts State Lottery site." Joe Mahoney, a spokeman for the Multi-state Lottery Association says that get-rich-quick frauds are a natural for lottery customers. But he stresses to never give out credit card information to someone you don't know. Lottery organizations will, he says "never ask you for a credit card. You have to buy a lottery ticket with cash." The lottery fraud continues a long line of other advance-payment schemes that seem to originate in eastern Africa and are known collectively as the Nigerian scam. Scam artists seem to have adapted well to the enormous opportunities that the World Wide Web has opened to them. Lottery officials are working with the FBI to try to limit the damage, but it has proven a difficult fix. "It's a matter of getting to the Web site," says Amy Morris. The FBI had to investigate who hosts the Web site and then notify the hosts that one of their sites was illegal.
Maybe I'm a little naive, but anyone who gives up their credit card and social security number to someone they don't know over the internet deserves what they get? On second thought, I did give a card number to Jeff for a piece of jewelry off his website and I’ve never met him. So who am I to talk?
Will they be able to track these turkeys down? I hope so. Then we can watch them cry from behind bars. Partly true mc mark, but you shouldn't fault the victimized, fraud makes you feel secure. Then it takes advantage of you. We all fall for these little scams at one time or another. I fell for the yellow pages scam (were they used the walking fingers logo) and billed me as if they were the yello pages. But how was I too know the damn patent had run out on that logo. These people trick you. That's what they do.
Anybody else get Lottery tickets for tonights drawing? A few of us at work got together and bought 19 tickets.
Story of the last Powerball winners. It was ONLY $48 million May 7, 2003 South Carolina COLUMBIA, S.C. - Anthony and Monica Wilson were still in shock as they stood behind the podium at the South Carolina lottery headquarters without a clue as to how they will spend their big Powerball jackpot. "It's a different world," Anthony Wilson of Charlotte, N.C., said. "I'm happy and nervous at the same time." A store near Fort Mill sold the state's first-ever winning Powerball ticket, which is worth $88.7 million if paid out over 30 years, or $48.8 million if paid out in a lump sum. Wednesday night's winning numbers were 13-18-34-35-51 and the Powerball was 28. Lottery spokeswoman Tara Robertson said the couple had not decided which payment option they would take. "I guess for anyone, you become speechless," Robertson said. "For them it's a dream, a dream that has come true." Anthony Wilson, 38, joked that he thought the person ahead of him in line at the Red Rocket on U.S. Highway 21 near Fort Mill may have gotten a winner because the lottery machine made a funny noise when it spit out those tickets. Wilson said he didn't realize until Thursday morning at work that he had the winner among the 60 tickets he bought. "I almost had a heart-attack," he said. Then he called his wife and his mother. "I have to call my mother back and see if she's all right," he said at a news conference in Columbia. The Wilsons have not told their children, who are 16 and 12 years old, but were going to their son's concert right after the news conference. The lottery win does mean the children are going to college. "No doubt, they are going to school. I guess they can go to a good school now - a real good school," Anthony Wilson said. They said they do not have extravagant plans, but would give some money to their church and plan to pay off the house they intend to buy in Fort Mill so they can live debt-free. The Wilsons didn't know whether they would continue to work, but said they would take the honeymoon they never had. "We're going to work on some additions to the family," said Anthony Wilson, a calibrations technician at Holopack International in Columbia. Monica Wilson, 36, works at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Fort Mill. Robertson said the state of South Carolina won along with the Wilsons. Seven percent of their winnings will come back to South Carolina through state taxes. The winnings are subject to a 27 percent federal tax, Robertson said. The South Carolina lottery started on Jan. 7, 2002, with just four versions of scratch-off tickets. Now, the lottery has expanded to include three numbers games and the Powerball.
