Winning Anything? Nope.. It's a Scam!!

Checked my mails today and found two emails which notify me that I won some money.. Wow.. If that's true, then I would be very rich. Haha.
But nope, all these are scams.
Don't ever believe in something which you didn't even participate or heard of.

Below are the mail content from these so called "companies":
First email from: MSN/HOTMAIL PROMOTION (mail444@netbay.com.au)
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MSN/HOTMAIL PROMOTION
PATRONAGE BONANZA
(Thanks for contributing to our Financial Success)
Dear Esteemed Winner,

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the MSN/HOTMAIL Mid-Year
Patronage Bonanza 2007. Your e-mail address attached to ticket number
883734657492-5319 with serial number 7263-267, batch number
8254297137,lottery ref number 7336065782 and drew lucky numbers
14-22-28-37-40-44 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have
therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of £850,000.00 (i.e Eight
Hundred and Fifty Thousand United Kingdom Pounds).

The reason this lottery was organized is to thank the numerous public
including users and non-users of MSN/HOTMAIL for the financial
benefits to the up-growing of our company. THE MSN/HOTMAIL CORPORATION is
using this as a Patronage to all their customers this Financial Year.

To file for your claims, please contact our Administrative/Remmitance
Director:
Claims Agent: Mr Graham Betts West
Email: admgbwest2@hotmail.com
Tel: (+44) 703 5901 879

For processing and remmitance of your winnings, you are required to
contact our designated claims agent Mr. Graham Betts West with the
following underlisted informations:

FULL NAMES:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
SEX:
AGE:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:

Congratulations From our members of Staffs of MSN/HOTMAIL Groups Of
Company.
Mrs. Foster .Avant
Online Coordinator
MSN/HOTMAIL Promotions

Second email from: slain@cox.net
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Batch No:0460037/07

We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today
26th September, 2007 of winners of the Gladwin Sweepstakes
International Promo Incorporated held on 15th september 2007.

Ticket number:910-153-00-234,
Serial number:22290-10
Lucky numbers:36-09-20-37-99-2007,
Ref: GSLI /101/231/0460037/07
Amount: GBP 1,000,000.00 (one million pounds)

contact claims release officer
Mr. Allen Kelvin
E-mail:gladwinkelvin1313g@myway.com

You are advised to contact your claims agent with the following details
to avoid unnecessary delays and complications.
Full Name:.............................................
Residential Address:................................
E-mail Address:......................................
Direct Phone Number:.............................
Fax Number:..........................................
Nationality...........................................
Occupation............................................
Age:.................. Sex.............................
Ticket Number:......................................
Serial Number:.......................................
Batch Number:.......................................
Lucky Number:.......................................
Lottery Ref Number:................................
As indicated in this winning Notification.

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Link to email lottery scam:

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/euro-star-lottery.html

Housewife loses RM360,000 in lucky draw scam
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/21/nation/18950557&sec=nation

First online scam case

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/26/courts/18992131&sec=courts

A Thousand Marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it: I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well, but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much.

Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital", he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a gift of a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time. "It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75-Year-old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT. Good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?", she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey,can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles." A friend sent this to me, so I sent it to you, my friend. And so, as one smart bear once said..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.