What am I to make of this? SPAM? GLURGE?

[Jonathan Chance]

So I received this:

FROM: COINGOGAMES PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.

RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the of the COINGOGAMES Lottery International programs held on the 5th of December 2003. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number with serial number drew lucky numbers which consequently won in the 2nd category,you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of One Million United State Dollars (US$1,000,000)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has been processed and your money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three year. We hope with part of your winning you will take part in our end of year 50 million Euro International lottery.

To file for your claim,please contact our Fiduciary Agent MR. RICHARD MYERS OF QUANTUM DIPLOMATIC COMPANY TEL: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 24th of December 2003. After this date all unclaimed funds will be included in the next stake.

Please note in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers in all correspondence. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations once more from our members of staff and thank you for being part of our promotional program.

Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.

Sincerely yours,

Van Dyke.
(Winning Coordinator)

I'm figuring that phone number is some sort of $200/minute scam, right?

Anyone else gotten this particular scam?

The other option is one of my pals yanking my chain. A not entirely unheard of occurance.

[Scuba_Ben]

It's spam, and a probable scam to boot. I believe Snopes' "Inboxer Rebellion" reports several variations on the theme of "You won a prize in a lottery you never entered!"

ISTR that the scam is that there will be a whole bunch of fees that you have to pay before you receive the prize.

[Moon-Watcher]

I've gotten that before too, but I do like the idea of the "QUANTUM DIPLOMATIC COMPANY." It just sounds really cool.

[jjimm]

There's been a spate of these, usually for Dutch lotteries, in Ireland and the UK recently. Usually they do it in the mail, and prey on elderly people who aren't as familiar with this sort of thing as people who use the Web. There was some poor old guy on the TV who had been bilked out of his life's savings (a mere £5,000, but still). Almost broke my heart. It's the same as the 401 scam really - pay lots of fees, and then the company just disappeared.

[Saint Zero]

Run it through Google, and it looks like everyone on the net got one. Can't wait to see him pay out all those of hundreds of millions. :D

Yeah, it's a scam.