Received this letter out of the blue regarding a lottery win. Fact is I never played this lottery. The fact that they want my personal bank information raised a red flag. So I immediately googled Santa Lucia Security Company and bingo I see the bad business bureau reports on this ripoff. Never believed it in the first place. Sounded too good to be true. As one of the reports suggested, it does appear that the letters are photocopied for mass random circulation with just the claim date changed. The rest of the details match what the other reports say. Looks like the same numbers are magically drawn draw after draw. Here are the details on the letter:
EL-GORDO SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY PROGRAM held June 30, 2004.
REF/EG/2551256003/01
BATCH/000750013
Ticket number 025-11-464-992-750
Serial number 2113-05
Lucky numbers 13-15-16-21-34-36
Won lottery in 3rd category
Lumpsum payout of USD 615,810.00 (supposed to be my share of USD 4,926,480 shared among 8 international winners)
Claims agent Dr. Luis Gomez (Foreign Service Manager, Santa Lucia Security Company S.A. Tel 011-34617580220, Fax 011-34656394745)
Claim date August 28, 2004
Unclaimed money will be returned to MINISTERIO DE ECONOMIA Y HACIENDA
To claim prize personal details to be faxed to 011-34656394745 (same as that of Dr. Gomez above)
Letter personally signed in blue ink (not a reproduction to add a touch of authenticity) by Luis Miguel, Deputy Director, ELGORDO LOTERIA PRIMITIVA
Envelope has no return address.
My name only appears on the envelope and nowhere inside.
Ramesh
Cupertino, California
U.S.A.