I got an e-mail today from "Dream-Giveaway.com" stating that I'd won an Xbox, and that they needed me to claim my prize and pay for shipping; but when I got to the confirmation page, they asked for my Debit card information, including my PIN number.
"Due to several winners that have been impersonated, we now require that you pay for shipping as verification that you are the actual winner. We apologize for this inconvenience but it is to make sure that YOU get your X-Box, not someone else! You will only be charged for the shipping option that you select below. The X-Box itself is of no charge.
We are sorry that we can not accept credit cards at this time, due to temporary technical issues with our merchant account. We do hope to have credit card available as an option as soon as possible."
That didn't sound right, so I just wanted to check to see if anyone knew if this was a scam - if it's legit, I'll just contact them and see if there's an alternate payment method. I'm not sure if I actually entered myself in this contest (since I sometimes do open up myself up to spam if there's a prize I really want, after winning Buy.com's $500 back-to-school contest a while back), or if a friend entered for me, so that's another cause for concern. Obviously, if none of us entered, then this contest can't be legit. Anyways, I've pasted the e-mail below, along with the link to their rules, etc.: http://www.dream-giveaway.com/rules.html. If anyone's got any input, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
----Pasted e-mail---
Greetings,
This email address was entered into our November Microsoft X-Box promotional competition
by either yourself or a friend, or perhaps a family member, at www.dream-giveaway.com
This is a prize draw, you have actually won a brand new Microsoft X-Box Gaming Console!
Your package also includes these top 5 games:
- Halo
- Metal Gear Solid 2
- Max Payne
- Splinter Cell
- Panzer Dragoon Orta
You are now invited to simply login to our website and claim your prize that you have already won
There will be only 9 winners in total this month, out of thousands of emails. So do count yourself lucky!
We have provided the following web link for you, it is temporary and expires in 72 hours.
If you do not login within this time your winning shall unfortunately be returned to the prize pool.
Here is your xlink!
[url deleted]
On this page you will need to enter this pass code number to proceed:
XXXXX
This is very important. Do not lose that number!
Put in your address, and we will send your X-Box to you.
We hope that you will enjoy your new X-Box gaming console.
Congratulations on winning,
From Microsoft and the Dream-Giveaway.com team!
"Due to several winners that have been impersonated, we now require that you pay for shipping as verification that you are the actual winner. We apologize for this inconvenience but it is to make sure that YOU get your X-Box, not someone else! You will only be charged for the shipping option that you select below. The X-Box itself is of no charge.
We are sorry that we can not accept credit cards at this time, due to temporary technical issues with our merchant account. We do hope to have credit card available as an option as soon as possible."
That didn't sound right, so I just wanted to check to see if anyone knew if this was a scam - if it's legit, I'll just contact them and see if there's an alternate payment method. I'm not sure if I actually entered myself in this contest (since I sometimes do open up myself up to spam if there's a prize I really want, after winning Buy.com's $500 back-to-school contest a while back), or if a friend entered for me, so that's another cause for concern. Obviously, if none of us entered, then this contest can't be legit. Anyways, I've pasted the e-mail below, along with the link to their rules, etc.: http://www.dream-giveaway.com/rules.html. If anyone's got any input, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
----Pasted e-mail---
Greetings,
This email address was entered into our November Microsoft X-Box promotional competition
by either yourself or a friend, or perhaps a family member, at www.dream-giveaway.com
This is a prize draw, you have actually won a brand new Microsoft X-Box Gaming Console!
Your package also includes these top 5 games:
- Halo
- Metal Gear Solid 2
- Max Payne
- Splinter Cell
- Panzer Dragoon Orta
You are now invited to simply login to our website and claim your prize that you have already won
There will be only 9 winners in total this month, out of thousands of emails. So do count yourself lucky!
We have provided the following web link for you, it is temporary and expires in 72 hours.
If you do not login within this time your winning shall unfortunately be returned to the prize pool.
Here is your xlink!
[url deleted]
On this page you will need to enter this pass code number to proceed:
XXXXX
This is very important. Do not lose that number!
Put in your address, and we will send your X-Box to you.
We hope that you will enjoy your new X-Box gaming console.
Congratulations on winning,
From Microsoft and the Dream-Giveaway.com team!