How do I find out if an email is legitimate or a scam? Or how do I check on a web site to make sure its real?

Ive received an email from Canada Lottery Super 7, saying my email was chosen in a lottery winning totaling $650,000.00...How do I find out if this is too good to be true or for real...??????....They want me to fill out a W-9, but have not asked for my ssn or bank account #....I have done nothing yet...

How do I find out if an email is legitimate or a scam? Or how do I check on a web site to make sure its real?
It's fraudulent.





You shouldn't open unsolicted email from unknown sources. Often what happens is that when you open up spam, it sends back a trigger to the originating source indicating that a valid email address has been found thus subjecting you to even more spam down the road. Even using the preview pane in email products sends web beacons back to spammers.( http://helpdesk.gwu.edu/mailfilter/spam.... )





However, in this case since you have already opened up this email which is a probably a variant of the 419 Nigerian phishing scheme, display all headers and send it to Fraud Watch International. The email address is in the link to the webpage below.


http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/l...





There are a couple Yahoo pages dedicated to the 419 Fraud


Yahoo Lottery Fraud


http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/or...


http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/abuse/a...





Microsoft also has a similar webpage


http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yoursel...
Reply:those are major scams. if the e-mail came from some place other than a yahoo or msn address, just take the sender name and @ symbol off and put the rest in your web address bar. if it brings up nothing, that's a sure way to tell if it's a scam. also, since they are asking you to fill out a document such as a W-9, you can be certain they will be next telling you that their financial attorneys need just a little more info... your bank routing number, account number, and SSN... just to varify who you are. personally, if they don't know who you are from the beginning, since they are the ones who said YOU won the money, there is something really wrong. also, since they said they were from a specific agency... the Canada Lottery Super 7... you can run that through the better business bureau. i have gotten many e-mails like this, as well as instant messages on both yahoo and msn, saying that i was either a winner of some sort, or the last ditch effort to award some enheiritance that needs to go to someone, since the person who died had no next of kin. those ones are a little more tricky, though, as you can google the name of the dead person and find out that they were quite rich and are also quite dead.





good luck, and i hope this has helped at least a little.
Reply:Ignore it. It's spam
Reply:If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. You are most likely being scammed.
Reply:I treat all of it as a scam unless I signed up for it.
Reply:Hit Ctrl + U to find the true web source
Reply:If i were you, i wouldn't trust it. If it sounds too good to be true to you, then it is.
Reply:omg dont do it!! i recieved one of them in my email 2 months ago but mine was 120,000,00. and they told me that i had hit the lotto.. then 2 days ago i got a check in the mail.. that said 4,122 dollars... and i was soo happy then i went to the bank and they said that it was a scam and they always do it around chrismas to make themselves more money.. they will want u to cash the check and when it comes back it will say that the check was fake and u will have to pay all the money back... please dont do it.. if u would like i can take a pic of the letter and send it to you and the check.. its fake dont do it.. instead prank them back and tell them u would do it.
Reply:hun ,thats a scam
Reply:If it sounds to good to be true it usually is.





Please..... I get the Canadian Lottery scam once a week. That one is peanuts. Now the Aftican nation scam to move money out of the country that scam goes into the millions.





Myself I am waiting for the nut jobs to send me a scam for an inheritance from a long lost relative that runs into hundreds of million.





If you pay any attension at all to these emails you are as nutty as they are.
Reply:Ask a local attorney what is required on a W9 and the Texas and US Federal rules on participating.





Now how would you win a lottery that you did not enter?


If I did not initiate the transaction but they state I won I delete it as false, a scam and open no hyper-links in email
Reply:Use common sense. Really, would you give your SSN and bank account out to just anyone?
Reply:I guarantee you it is a scam. There are no such things as an "email lottery".
Reply:Did you buy a ticket for the lotto and give them your e-mail address? Sounds like a scam.
Reply:You can pretty much judge for yourself whether this was true or not:





1. Did you buy a ticket to enter such a lottery? If you didn't fill out an entry form, you can't win. Where large sums of money are concerned, there is ALWAYS a contract to sign before receiving it, so that you know its source is legitimate.





2. Was it addressed to you specifically by your full name? It only makes sense that any company who is about to give away that much money will know exactly who it goes to.





3. Are they asking you to send personal information to them? Don't send it. If they want to give you a prize for a contest you clearly remember entering, they already have that information.





4. Is the wording in the letter clearly and formally expressed? Poor English and grammar are sure tipoffs that such scams are being run from countries where English is not the first language.





5. Does the company give legitimate contact information, including a phone number, website, physical address, and a source where past lottery winners can be listed? (By law, the names of all lottery winners must be made public information. If you can't find any past winners, there's no such lottery).





6. Are they asking you to send them money for "processing fees?" Don't. It's an attempt to access your bank account information so they can take the money, not put it in. A company that truly has $1 million to give away is perfectly capable of subtracting any "processing fees" from whatever prize they want to give you.





If even one of the above apply, you can rest assured that your letter is not true and a total sham. Just delete it or toss it in the trash.
Reply:scam, unless you entered a lottery super 7 o watever contest.
Reply:try this link see if it helps you


http://www.lotterycanada.com/lottery/
Reply:well how can you win something you havent entered? ... tell me that





then can you tell me why they send it to everyone?





next please tell me why it doesnt say $650,000 cash





Then please delete the email and move on....





ITS FAKE

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