It took a few days for the winner to come forward.  On the 27th of February the winning ticket was presented to the lottery’s Security Director by Melbourne man, Joseph Franck, who waltzed in with two Melbourne lawyers by his side.  You see, Franck had cheated the lottery, but here’s the catch: he had done it in a completely legal way.

Let me explain how lotteries generally work.  You take the total number of possible combinations (in this case 7,059,052)  and multiply it by the profit you make on each ticket.  The number you come up with should always be more than the maximum possible amount that can be won.  But the Virginia State Lottery had foolishly neglected to go to such lengths.  In their lottery, each ticket cost $1.  This means that a keen investor could purchase every single one of the possible combinations, and make around 20 million dollars profit on the purchase.  This is exactly what Franck did, with the help of 2500 other investors.  The investors were primarily from Australian and New Zealand, however there were several international bodies involved as well.  Together they raised the seven million necessary to buy every combination.

The trouble doesn’t end there.  Somehow they had to figure out how to work around the logistical nightmare of actually purchasing all those tickets and submitting them in time for the draw.  The group hand-filled out 1.4 million lottery slips – each one catering for five combinations, meaning they wrote down all 7 million combinations by hand.  The slips were then split up among 125 separate groups that had been placed at different locations ready to start purchasing tickets.  At this point the group had to submit and purchase 7 million tickets with just 72 hours remaining on the clock.

When their time ran out the group had only managed to lodge 5 million of the possible combinations and they had to simply hope that the winning combination wasn’t one of the 2 million that they were unable to submit.  The draw went ahead and after several days of searching the elated group discovered that they had indeed won the lottery and – more importantly – they were the only ones who did so.  This meant they received the full $27 million.

Naturally the Virginia State Lottery tried to hold out on awarding the group the winnings, but after a month of legal squirming the group was finally awarded the prize.  With an initial expenditure of just $5 million, the group had just won themselves $22 million in pure profit.

And that’s the story of how some dudes from Melbourne trolled the lottery.

That woman is disgusting.

http://www.lolwigger.com – check it out!

lol wigger

Just thought I would take the time to share a couple of rather obvious scam emails I received recently.  I find it absolutely incredible that anyone actually falls for this bullshit:

THE DESK OF
MR SULEMAN IBRAHIM
BANK OF AFRICA.(BOA)
OUAGADOUGOU – BURKINA FASO .

DEAR FRIEND,

THIS MESSAGE MIGHT MEET YOU IN UTMOST SURPRISE, HOWEVER, IT’S JUST MY URGENT NEED FOR FOREIGN PARTNER THAT MADE ME TO CONTACT YOU FOR THIS TRANSACTION.

I AM A BANKER BY PROFESSION FROM BURKINA FASO IN WEST AFRICA AND CURRENTLY HOLDING THE POST OF DIRECTOR AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT OF THE BANK.

I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF TRANSFERING THE LEFT OVER FUNDS ($1.5MILLION) OF ONE OF MY BANK CLIENTS (MR ANDREAS SCHRANNER FROM GERMANY ) WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY ON 31 JULY 2000 IN A PLANE CRASH.

YOU CAN CONFIRM THE GENUINESS OF THE DECEASED DEATH BY CLICKING ON THIS WEB SITE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/859479.stm

HENCE,I AM INVITING YOU FOR A BUSINESS DEAL WHERE THIS MONEY CAN BE SHARED BETWEEN US IN THE RATIO OF 60%/40% IF YOU AGREE TO MY BUSINESS PROPOSAL.

YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER. OR YOU CAN REPLY ME THROUGH THIS E MAIL

suleibra1@aim.com

THANKS
YOURS FAITHFULLY
MR SULEMAN IBRAHIM.

My response to the kind gentleman:

HELLO AND GREETINGS FRIEND MR SULEMAN IBRAHIM,

YOUR MESSAGE SURE DID MEET ME IN UTMOST SURPRISE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA!  I WAS JUST CHECK MY EMAILS AS I DO EVERY OF THE DAYS AND BEHOLD-LO!  I SEE YOUR EMAIL SHINING IN THE BOX!  FOR SUPRISE WAS I!!!

BUT I HAVE TO CONFESS TO YOU I’M VERY SORRY BUT FIRST OF ALL I DID NOT BELIEVE YOU!  THEN I SAW HOW GENUINE YOU ARE AND BECAUSE THE LINK YOU GAVE!

YOUR BUSINESS PROPOSAL OF MONEY AND SOUNDS VERY GOOD TO ME.  I WOULD LOVE DISCUSS THIS FURTHER WITH YOU.  WHAT DO YOU NEED FOR ME TO DO IN ORDER TO BE GET THE MONEY?

THANKS
YOURS SURPRISINGLY
MR BUHT-HOL MCGEE

I wonder if I’ll get a reply.  The second email was written less blindingly, they actually used correct case:

Greeting!

I am Mrs. Mariam Jim Phelps, suffering from cancer ailment. I was married to Engineer Alex Jim Phelp an English man who is dead. My husband was into private practice all his life before his death.

Our life together as man and wife lasted for three decades without a child.My husband died after a protracted illness. My husband and I made a vow to uplift the down-trodden and the less-privileged  as we have passion for people who can not help themselves due to physical disability or financial predicament.My husband died leaving the sum of 2.8 Million United States Dollars which he derived from his vast estates and investment in capital market.

Presently, this money is with FEDEX EXPRESS DELIVERY,WEST AFRICA.The Confirmable Bank Draft was deposited with FEDEX EXPRESS DELIVERY WEST AFRICA.

I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows,orphans,destitute, physically challenged children, barren women and people who are genuinely handicapped financially.

I got your informations during a discreet search in the internet for someone to help me.I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and i have been told by doctors that i have less than two weeks to live.Please assure me that you will act just as I have stated herein.If you can give me this assistance,you can then contact FEDEX EXPRESS DELIVERY, WEST AFRICA as soon as possible to know when they will deliver the package to you because of the expiring date.

For your information,I have paid the delivery Charges, Insurance premium and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is not a Drug Money or meant to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country. The only money you will send to the FEDEX COURIER SERVICE to deliver your Draft direct to your postal Address in your country is ($275.00 US) Dollars only being Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far. Again, don’t be deceived by anybody to pay any other money except $275.00 US Dollars. I would have paid for the security keeping fee but they said no because they don’t know when you will contact them and in case of demurrage.You have to contact FEDEX EXPRESS DELIVERY, WEST AFRICA immediately with the following informations:

Full Names:
Telephone:
Country:
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:
Delivery Address:

DISPATCH OFFICER: Mr. David Oneal
Email Address: fdx.customerservice56@yahoo.com.hk
Telephone: +234-807-7728-353

You are adviced  to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid any further delay and remember to pay them their Security Keeping fee of $275.00 US Dollars for their immediate action.

Yours Faithfully,
Mrs. Mariam Jim Phelp.

My reply went like this:

Greeting to you Mrs. Miriam Jim Phelps!!

I am glad that you very decide to contact me!  I am pleased very much and happy and glad that you sent me this email to my inbox, but I am also sad to know you will die.  I hope that you can last until I get my money thats for sure!

Can you please instruct how I am to be pay your fee so I can get money from you before you die?

Thank you for you

Regards

Best wishes

Mr Buht-hol Mcgee

Boy I sure hope this isn’t some kind of trick!