Dear Stan,
It is unfortunately very common for people to receive emails from
strangers, claiming that they have won a large sum in some
international scheme (or scheme otherwise unknown to the receiver),
inherited something, etc. These are frauds!
Now, I cannot determine if the company you refered to is legitimate or
not, especially not through the very little details you provided.
However, a similar fraud email was posted online at The Original
Gixxer message board
<http://www.gixxer.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1164257&Main=1164235>.
In addition, if you go to the website of Lightwine, you can see that
this site is not active. <www.lightwine.org>.
Thirdly, just think about it - why and how would someone you don't
know send you an email (how would they know your email address), claim
that you won a lottery in which you never participated? Do you really
think that there is such a thing, such as an "International Lottery"?
It is very good that you became suspicious and contacted Google
Answers!
Here are more details about International Lottery Scams
<http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/intlalrt.htm>
It should be mentioned, that every person could buy a URL (web site
address) with .org suffix - you don't have to be an organisation. Such
limitations exist on other suffixes (such as .mil for military sites;
.gov for government sites and lately .edu for academic institutions) -
but anyone could have a .org address, including fraudsters.
If you suspect, after reading my answer, that it is a case of fraud,
contact the Internet crime division of your police. If you are
American, you could contact the FTC :
<https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01>
I hope this answered your question. |
