Phil Huang

OMG, I Won the Euromillones Spanish Lottery! (SCAM)

I’ve Hit the Jackpot

I’m announcing my retirement – it’s only $715,950 but I think I can stretch that and bum around for a decade. Okay, I’m kidding. The other day I got a piece of mail (direct mail, NOT email) that came from Spain (I’m not sure, but definitely somewhere in Europe). There’s no return address and I thought… that’s weird, I don’t know anyone in Europe.

Forged Letter With Fake Graphics

Euromillones Scam
(click to view larger version)

I open it up and there’s this watermarked letter complete with crappy header logos and an even crappier graphic in the bottom right that’s supposed to be some kind of authentic security seal. These graphics are blurry and just scream fake and unprofessional. So this letter goes on to describe how my name was submitted to an international lottery in Spain through a cross-promotion with some American company and that I won $715,950. They claim that it’s now placed at a security company and I have to call them so they can transfer it to my bank. I’m guessing the first thing they’ll ask for is some money to deposit or some type of transaction fee.

This letter has so many things on it that should set off warning alarms for people but I’m sure people fall for this, just like those Nigerian email scams. I didn’t think they did this with direct mail though. I’m surprised because this cost them “50p” from what I see on the stamp, while sending emails is basically free. If these fraudsters are willing to spend money, it means their endeavors are profitable and people are indeed getting scammed.

Obviously when I get a foreign letter telling me I won a lottery I didn’t participate in, my first reaction is skepticism. I thought “okay, whatever” and the first thing I did was hop on Google and search for “euromillones” and quickly confirmed this is a scam. Apparently they used to do this with email as well (or maybe they still are).

Here’s another page about these fraudulent scams on the official Euromillones website: Scam Letters & Emails

Watch Out For Scams Like This

I’ve added (SCAM) to the post title just to make it really clear. This post was originally meant to be sarcastic but people who’ve received the same letter are finding this post online when looking for info. So just to confirm, the Euromillones letter is a SCAM.

Bottom line is if you actually won the lottery they would not just mail you a plain letter like this to notify you. It would most likely be a phone call or at least a certified letter requiring signature. And they would never ask you for personal financial information or any kind of up front deposit to claim your winnings. Plus, how many lotteries have you played where you had to give out personal information like your home address?

As good as it might sound, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is – money doesn’t just drop out of the sky onto your lap like this.

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Philip

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Comments

167 responses to “OMG, I Won the Euromillones Spanish Lottery! (SCAM)”

  1. Melody

    That is so funny! I have almost the same letter as you have. I recieved mine in the mail also. It said that I had apparently won $550,000, even though I have never played any kind of lottery. The letter said that “My Agent” entered me in the lottery. These people make me sick!! About a month ago I recieved another scam letter but it was done through e-mail. I wish these people would get a life and a real job.

    Reply
  2. Philip

    Unfortunately because there are people who fall for this, the scammers will keep at it. So my post is really to help spread awareness about these scams.

    The more you know *

    This public service announcement has been brought to you by NBC. Just kidding, please don’t sue me, NBC. ;-)

    Reply
  3. rahmatullah usmani

    i have got the same letter which is shown and it said that i have won 750,000 euros.
    i have also never played this lottery and they said that they need 850 pounds to transfer this to my acccount i said you can take that money off my winning money but they said that they wil not take it of that because that is insured on my name and has to be paid in full.

    i knew this was a scam and i searched on the google and find many websites about this scam.

    my letter was also from madrid but i will phone the embassy tomorrow in london and tell them and please every do the same thanks.

    Reply
  4. Derek Seal

    Just to let you know scam still doing the rounds

    at 985,000 euros might just be enouth for me to retire on. :)

    Reply
  5. anon

    well i got an e-mail sayin i won 785,510 euros thats lyk 500,000 half a million. When we rang up they said that we had to fax our details. Then they asked for a sum of 1,000 gor tax. When we said that they should take it out of our sum of money they said they could not do this because the money was registered in our name and was ours and they had to pay the full sum of money. I was devestated when i found their fax and telephone number on this site : http://www.joewein.net/419/419-phone-es.htm#phone-es
    It said underneath that they were a lottery scam.
    What i want to ask is why these scams are not stoped by the the Euromillions embassy?
    Why isn’t anything happening about these scams. These people are the same as criminals because they are staeling peopels well earned money . I class this as fraud and theft .
    The crimes in this world are growing and growing to an extreeme extent. Someone should hear our voices and our thoughts.Someone has to do something about this or else it will get worse and worse making people banckrupt.
    Anon

    Reply
  6. A Winner

    Looks like you’re not the one, I too am a winner. Only

    Reply
  7. Shaza

    Wow I received the same letter too yesterday- from Madrid Spain. Yeah the letter was catchy but luckily I searched more about it in the internet. “Shared among the twelve international winners”.. yeah right! Then how come so many people received this stupid letter? LOL.

    I really really hope these people will be punished for what they are doing. Thank God we realized what they are up to.

    Reply
  8. Martha Rodriguez

    Hi, guys I also have the almost exact letter, and I did call Spain spoke to the director and then to the supposed bank and decided to check the internet when they asked me for $1,960. for air fare so that they could come and hand deliver my $800,000 and some to me in person(thank god for the internet.) so I called the the american lottery commission and they told me that it was a scam and not to send them a penny. Would you be lieve they are still calling me and asking me what happeded don’t I want my money? I am atemped to call them back and tell them off but what would I gain? What I need is a number to call to report nthem and stop them from doing this to honest working people, with a dream.
    And theyb have the nerve to quote the bibile to me on the answing machine, since on our machine our message says ” remember John 3:16.

    P.S. Glad we didn’t fall who knows how much we could have been in debt by the time they were done with us.

    Reply
  9. Philip

    These people will do anything to get your money. They tried to relate to you based on your answering machine message. It’s pretty despicable. Very wise of you to check it out before sending them any money. I’m glad you didn’t get scammed.

    If you have the number they’re calling from I’d say just send that info to the FBI or the appropriate agency. I suppose the American Lottery Commission might know the appropriate law enforcement department that handles this.

    Reply
  10. Guido

    I received the same letter today. Like Shaza in an earlier posting I’m one of 12 winners blablabla. This letter set so many alarm bells running, and in 2 minutes looking on the internet I’m pretty confident now that it is a scam :-). Ah well, thinking for 5 minutes I could take a couple of years out from working was nice :-)

    Reply
  11. Esther Olsen

    I, too received such a letter on 7/21/07. It was addressed to may Dad who has been deceased for 5 Years. He was an ardent lottery player. I called the local FBI office to report the matter. They told me it was a scam and did not want to tell me much about it. I asked if they wanted to take a report on it and their reply was negative. I contacted local Police and they were very helpful explaining that most of these scams come out of Europe, specifically Spain, France and Italy.

    Reply
  12. L FORD

    i received this so called winning letter this morning so the first thing i did was check it up on the internet. all i can find is how much of a scam it is. i thought it was when i opened it because it’s just full off crap basically and on the back there is a form to fill in asking for all your bank details. sort codes, account numbers etc. if anyone receives this letter please do not do it. !!!
    lauren x

    Reply
  13. Mohammed zaman

    I nearly believed that my luck must be turning, with a winning of 785thousand,and 790 pounds, just done a quick internet search and it seems it is a SCAM, I would like to thank ALL those who put the time and efforts to warn others

    Reply
  14. lotie karen

    I thought with all this money I could have a great life, pay off my loans, buy a bigger house. Somthing in my head said this cannot be true. Its to good to be true. But I wanted to believe it was true. I won 575,982.30 Euros I started dreaming all the things I could do with this money. My daughter said it is a scam. I did not want to believe her so I went on the net. There is nothing thats called Euro millones. Back to reality. its all a scam. I feel sorry for all the people who falls for this scam. And I am glad that there is people on the net that warns us about this. My letter came in the mail, so I thought it must be true. This should be stopped.

    Reply
  15. Bridget

    I fell for thios bloody scam, although i diddnt send any money. I did start to believe it was true. I feel very sad and let down

    Reply
  16. Christian

    Hey guys,

    I received a similar letter, too, but mine was even a photocopied paper, not even from a colour printer.. LOL

    Why on hearth would the Ministerio De Hacienda contact a winner anyway? Surely they’d just wait for the claim expiry date and keep the money to themselves.

    I just cannot believe that in this modern world anyone could ever fall for this.

    Chriss

    Reply
  17. Paul from Toronto Canada

    Well the Euromillions Scam lives on I guess. Today I received my photocopied so called winning letter in the mail. Spelling mistakes were perhaps one of the first clues that there is something very wrong here. Then checked on the Euromillones website, and yes of course it’s a scam. Just want to join all the people who are making everyone else aware that this is a big Scam, so just ignore the letter………Paul

    Reply
  18. Meira Evans

    Hi victims,
    Yes I’ve won 985,950.00 euros on the euromillones!!!!! I was a bit apprehesive cos I never win anything. On the other hand it could be true as my daughter had been out working in Spain during the whole of August and I thought that she might have bought me a ticket as the lottery took part on the 16th of August – too much of a coincidence I thought as the postmark was Malaga where she was. I did phone Spain just to check and was told to fax the enclosed form, but they did not ask me for money. Thank goodness I did not reveal any of my presonal details!
    I sought advice from the Trading Standards and was informed by them that people receive this kind of letter every day and the best place for it was the bin.
    I then checked the website and felt a real fool for thinking for one minute that I just might be lucky for once in my life! The b******** s wasted and upset my day.

    Reply
  19. John McQuaid

    I received mine today and it was so obviously a scam. Photocopied letter and form, awful grammar and spelling. With apologies to any of your listers who have actually purchased one of these tickets (which of course I hadn’t and nor has anyody else), I would suggest that these people prey on the gullibility of pretty vaccuous people. It cost them 58 Euros to send my letter and I wont be spending any chasing them up. Come on folks, get real.

    Reply
  20. jo eayrs

    wow hey me to
    proud winner of

    Reply
  21. el mejjaty bouchaib

    anche io veramente ero molto vicino a cedere k finalemente la fortuna se avicinata a me ma ho scoperto questi commenti prima k facio passi sbagliati vi ringrazio molto d avermi salvato dall incoulata nel momento giusto …..
    nb. a tutti quelli k l ai arriva dopo un email dal euro millones lottery di stare molto attenti di non fare falsi passi

    Reply
  22. Phil

    Hi, I don’t know if many people reading will understand Italian but from the Google language translator, the previous comment seems to say something like: He almost fell for this scam but didn’t and he warns others not to fall for these fraudulent emails.

    Reply
  23. Matt

    im a winner also ”” i was so pleased to reiceve a letter from . a carlos luis antonio today saying i have won loads of dosh from euro millones. 615.810.00euros i was so happy i got myself a pizza and a bottle of diet coke. so you can imagen my dissapointment to learn it is a scam. but as i live on my own and dont get much mail.i desided to look on the bright side .at least ive gained a first class spanish stamp .free of charge, and as i have a fax number for them im going to fax them a photo copy of a old pair of pants.,

    Reply
  24. Bunjan

    Got it too, I may have fallen for it if they had printed it well, but the spelling mistakes and the bad wording gave it away. However I hope to be able to go to my Bank and borrow against it.

    Shouldn’t we all be calling the police and seeing who is at the end of the phone number 0034651540919 or 0034 695013905 as shown on the letter, originally I thought this was a clever way to get you to ring a

    Reply
  25. tom

    Got mine on October 19 too –

    Reply
  26. simon

    yes i nearly fell for this one.615810.00 euros, if it were not for the dodgy printing and graphics and of course, my inquisitve nature.
    ministerio de hacienda-bottom right,,
    winterthur seguros compania s a.
    madrid, spain. claims tel no:0034 675 013 803
    I shall be faxing :
    scam awareness, 2 words only!!

    Reply
  27. Mark

    I was mystified upon opening a letter this morning claiming I had “won” nearly a million Euros in a lottery I had not participated in. Being unemployed at present and finding it very hard to get a job, this would have been very welcome indeed! Having been scammed this time last year by a fake Russian girl to the tune of nearly 1000 dollars (beware guys) I was suspicious about this letter to say the least. I went out to do some shopping but it was playing on my mind all the time. On return I found details of this scam.

    Oh well, back to the unemployment benefit office……with this letter consigned to the waste bin.

    Reply
  28. Amelia Tait

    Join the club. I also received two different letters within two days.(Obviously from an old telephone directory) written in English, sent to an address in Germany! Wow. this letter is in such good English that you could almost believe it. Thank you for your site.

    best wishes for further descamming!

    Reply
  29. huseyin

    they messed with the wrong people. we promise u all that, there time is runnin out. we r on 2 it. we have the power and $$$ 2 trace them. DON MANO PATRI (foreign operations manager). tel 0034 638 175 877…..fax 0034 645 209 148. we r huntin u down.

    Philip: I edited this comment to remove excessive profanity.

    Reply
  30. Hassan

    Well, thanks for putting all the info online Philip. It helps people us to confirm and comment on the issue. Secondly, i don’t understand how did they get our home addresses. These people must be captured by some international authorities.

    Reply
  31. Emma

    I received a letter this morning from Madrid telling me I had won 615810.00 euros. What a scam!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  32. Rachel

    I received this letter today telling me I’d won 985,950.00 euros. I wasn’t fooled! I didn’t even take part in the draw. I feel sorry for anyone desperate enough to be taken in by this. Thank you for putting the info on line. It was the 1st place I looked to confirm it was a SCAM!!!!

    Reply
  33. gwenupton

    i got my letter today ,i wish it was not a scam, it would of made my xmas, o well thay dont no i work on a lottery desk for 8 years lol

    Reply
  34. Graeme

    I received one of these letters promising $915,810.00 way down here in New Zealand.What a lot of sheep I could get for that!As soon as I saw that my name and address was not on the letter,I knew it was dodgy.Thanks for the website,I hope many others discover it.It’s time for Mr.Plod to polish up his arse kicking boots!

    Reply
  35. Finland

    I got also this letter to Finland on 19NOV07 telling that You have won 615.810

    Reply
  36. MintyKofi

    What do you know? Its been just over a year since the first post about the Euro Millones Scam and it has just happened to me today. The offer was 615,810 Euros, what a joke! However they have given me 6 numbers that I will be playing for this weeks Euro Millions. Wish me luck.

    Reply
  37. linda

    tuesday november 27, 2007

    mine came today, same photocopy letter without my name on it, some people must be falling for it or they wouldnt keep doing it, these people need to be caught . mine even has a photo at the bottom of some old man flashing his FALSE teeth, carlos luis antonio, vice president. any ideas who to forward it to as the bin isnt going to help the more vunerable who have no computer and are unaware of these scams. nice spanish christmas stamp on it though!!

    Reply
  38. Sunita

    I have just received this letter from a law firm called Perez Segura. They have even gone as far as setting up a website. My letter is also on crappy paper. Out of curiosity I have called Spain (0034 638 499 743) and spoken to a man called Dr Garcia Alonso Jr who sounded a little Nigererian, but hey, I humoured him anyway. He said that is he going to instigate the claim process but didn’t ask for any personal details and said he would be in touch via letter, so I will let you guys know what happens. I will take it as far as I can before they ask for bank detail or cold hard cash. I might as well waste their time while I can, keep em’ dangling for a bit longer.

    Reply
  39. marie

    Well how lucky to join this club!!! I got my letter today, I live in Italy, and it was sent to my former home address. I knew immediately it was a scam, but wanted to see how vast this operation is. Seems pretty wide spread seeing all the comments from various parts of the world. I intend to take the letter to the local Carbinieri/State Police. I’m sure there are people falling for this scam, elderly people come to mind, and these people need to be stopped, and need to find a real job!

    Reply
  40. Carolyn

    Thank you all so much for writing in. I got my letter this morning here in Sweden. The fact that they bothered to send it by real mail and pay for the stamp got my attention, even though it was a photocopied letter without my name on it, but it’s amazing what one’s mind can do when you want to believe something is true. Fortunately I was smart enough to check with google before I got too carried away. It’s cruel to give people false hope, even just for a few minutes.

    Reply
  41. Andrea

    I received same info today; thanks for the internet write up as it makes it easy to check, not that it wasn’t obvious!! I mean there was a faint but desperate hope that it might be real but I just don’t think 715.810 euros would support my lifestyle for long either( just kidding). Oh yeah forgot to mention they were going to take 10 per cent of the insured amount, but only after I had confirmed I was a winner by giving all my IDENTITY DOCUMENTS to them!! Really not worth it, though I might for a real pay out of that size!! LOL

    Reply
  42. amal

    I received same info today;29 nov 2007 prize won 615,810.00 this is the sec time they seding this
    Thank you all so much for writing in .I wasn

    Reply
  43. margaret

    received same, thank you – saved me a lot of time and money checking it out.
    I did complete an application for the lottery- it came up on explorer whist in use.fortunately I too am the mistrusting type.

    Reply
  44. Anon

    I’m in the legal business and warned to look out for money laundering etc. I was surprised to receive mail from Malaga Spain (postmark) although letter itself was headed from Madrid ! After reading this dribble and laughing at some spelling mistakes, the warning bells did truly ring loud. Sure enough, given the poor quality paper, the Euromillones logo printed on the paper slightly blurred this had to be a scam. First place I checked was the trusty faithful world web. Thank you everyone before me as confirmation that this is indeed a scam.

    Reply
  45. P Clarke

    You spoilsports. My prize was 3,700,000 euros. There I was, about to sack all my customers and hire a private jet to head for Madrid to collect it. What is an OSA agent? I’m supposed to contact Carlo Fernando. The telephone numbers start 00346….. 6 is a Spanish mobile number, authentic Madrid numbers with international codes start 00349 so be on your guard.

    Reply
  46. Kat

    I was approached by a friend that he had received this letter twice. The first time his wife threw it in the rubbish but then when they got a second letter he thought that maybe there was truth to this thing. Luckily he had the wisdom to ask me to confirm the authenticity of the letter. At first sight I could tell it was a SCAM. The things that caught my attention was the crappy paper they used and the logo looked like it was scanned and blurry and the contact email address was to a yahoo account. I was convinced that it was a scam and after looking through the internet and finding sites like this one my thoughts were confirmed. Thank you to everyone who has made this known. Ahhh, if only it were true! lol….my firend’ would have been 480,000 euros richer :)

    Reply
  47. Ange

    Yes, when I got the letter I thought what? I don’t have any friends in Spain… Well it turned out that I had won 615.810 euros and certainly I was suspicious but at the same time aspiring for a better life! Damn! The first thing I did was to call the guy Mr. Godson Alvaro Galvez in Spain who said everything written on the letter was real and that all I had to do is send the Payments Processing for along with a form of ID. That confirmation made me even happier believe it or not!!! The next thing I did was completed the form until a friend advised me to check the internet. Then I found these articles confirming my suspicion IT WAS ALL A SCAM!!! These people should be sued for their superfluous actions because so many people are falling for it!

    Reply
  48. Eva

    I am wondering why the police cannot stop these people, with this stupidity!.
    I just “won” 915,777.00 Euro!!! Since the very begging I didn’t believe it and I just researched Google.

    Reply
  49. Davie M

    CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE AND COMPLAIN AS THIS IS FRAUD

    Reply
  50. fazlan from malaysia

    i got Euro 785k, with all particulars describe by all above.
    hmm, i wish its true.

    i believe this scam involves local peoples.

    Reply
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