Warning, Internet Scams are not just for the Internet Anymore

While not really related to online dating I thought I would post about this as a warning to others. Last month I got an interesting envelope in the mail. It was from Spain, with a Spanish stamp and postmark. There was an official looking letter telling me I had won 800,000 pounds from a Spanish government lottery. All I had to do to collect the money was fill out the included form with my personal and bank information and send it back to some (apparently) lawyers address in Spain. Yeah Right!!!

I live in Canada and I don't know anyone in Spain or have ever got a piece of mail from Spain. The envelope was hand written so when I opened it I wasn't sure what it was all about. After reading the included pages, the first thing I did was Google about it. The US Department of State has some good information about this type of scam.

Some warning signals I had when I first read the mail:

• Winning a lottery, I never win anything! Seriously though, winning anything that you have not purchased a ticket for, etc.. is highly unlikely.
• While the document looked official the printing job was poor and it was on cheap paper.
• Someone asking for my Bank Account Number, I don't think so.

You see these type of scams everyday in the spam folder of your email program but it is the first time it has happened to me through the mail. To send an email is extremely cheap but to use the post office is not. You have the printing costs, the paper cost, someone has to stuff the envelop and write out the addresses. The stamp alone was worth 0,78 pounds. I’m surprise this type of scam is worth it to the fraudsters.

This just goes to show you, you have to be on the lookout and use common sense every day. Whether it is someone you don't know asking for your personal information or money through the internet or the mail, to the local gas bar attendant double swiping your credit card (that's another story).