Microsoft International Lottery
The Microsoft International Lottery Board letter claims that you have won a major prize in a competition run sometime ago.
It claims that due to a mix up of numbers, the results were not released until recently.
Your name was selected through a computer ballot system. Your cash prize has been deposited with a security company and insured in your name.
You must claim your winnings by a certain date from a Spanish claims agent and keep the win a secret otherwise the funds will be returned to the Ministero De Economia Y Hacienda as unclaimed.
This scam is an advance fee fraud. It is not connected to Microsoft, you have not won any lottery and there are no funds to retrieve.
This is just a copy of the fake La Primitiva letter with the heading changed to Microsoft. The scammers haven’t even bothered to change the details.
Consider this: why would Microsoft, which has its corporate headquarters in the United States, run a competition through Spain? Why would the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance be involved in a competition run by a US-based multinational?
If you respond to this letter, the scammers will ask you to send money to access your winnings, claiming the money is needed to pay for various taxes and charges. And, before you know it, they will bleed your bank account dry.
Check out our sections on “Have you won an overseas lottery” and advance fee frauds.