8

Some time ago I received the following message on my personal mobile phone number:

YOUR MOBILE NUMBER HAS WON 780,000EURO IN THE WORLD LOTTO END OF YEAR PROMO.FOR CLAIMS EMAIL(NAME/ADDRESS/PHONE) TO:[email protected]

A WhoIs search for mediacombb.net returns the following:

enter image description here

I certainly did not take part in this "World Lotto", so this being truthful is out of the question, and thus likely to be a scam.

How will the scammers benefit from me simply sending in my name, address and phone (which they already have), all of which they most likely have if they managed to get their hands on my personal phone number?

Not quite sure if it would be wise to go ahead with providing the requested info and update the question with further details as the case progresses.

Improve this question
5
  • Why is the email redacted?
    – Marcel
    Nov 22, 2019 at 7:01
  • Not sure, indeed it does look strange
    – rrz0
    Nov 22, 2019 at 7:03
  • 5
    Re. email question, even though OT: It's not redacted, but in the form of an image to make it harder to scrape for bots.
    – ig-dev
    Nov 22, 2019 at 7:36
  • Scammers forums.tomshardware.com/threads/what-is-mediacombb-net.2053894
    – Andrew
    Nov 24, 2019 at 16:42
  • The question specifically asks "How will the scammers benefit from me simply sending in my name, address and phone"
    – Ben
    Nov 26, 2019 at 17:55

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
10

The scam is this: They randomly try phone numbers (no personal address in the message), then try to get the matching Name and Address from the owner.

They likely build up a verified database for phones and matching people.

Do not respond.

Improve this answer
4
13

I created a fake gmail account and emailed the address you posted. I got back something that very much looks like it will turn into advanced fee fraud.. One of the Hallmarks I've seen is the spelling out all the dollar amounts in numerals, as well as words. i.e.

On behalf of the Management and Staffs of WORLD LOTTO MOBILE PROMO, We officially congratulate you as the beneficiary of the cash prize of €780,000.00 (Seven Hundred And Eighty Thousand Euros). My names are David Hoffman,

It goes on, trying to invent fake details to establish legitimacy, and continually mentioning large amounts of money in an attempt to get you hooked.

This promotion is approved by the British/USA Gaming Board and licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This promo is the 1st of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public about WORLD LOTTO MOBILE PROMO. Your Mobile Number attached to a reference, won you €780,000.00 (Seven Hundred And Eighty Thousand Euros) cash prize and your check will be issued in your name provided.

The MO is generally always the same. Get the mark convinced they've won some large amount of money, but you juuust need this little amount of money to pay some fee associated with winning the money.

If you wanted to be certain you could likely just email back and forth with this guy, preferably from a fake email address. Some people do this as a form of entertainment.

Improve this answer
2

Having the mobile phone number associated with an email address is likely enough to take over a large variety of accounts online using a sim swap scam, especially if combined with knowledge of your name and physical address.

That's probably worst case.

Best case is name/address/email/phone would be a valuable commodity to sell in bulk along with similar information of many others for various nefarious purposes ranging from spamming to phishing to full-on identity theft attempts.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    Worst case is that advance fee fraud steals all your money. justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/…
    – Conor Mancone
    Nov 25, 2019 at 1:50
  • Worst case just from providing the requested info I meant. Obviously if you continue with the scam to the point that you're trying to cash a check or paying a fee it could do a lot more...
    – Ben
    Nov 26, 2019 at 17:54

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .