Hello and thank you for your question, which I will be happy to assist you with.

This is a scam. Such types of scams, also known as ‘advance-fee fraud’ are unfortunately extremely common these days and many unsuspecting victims fall for them.

The best way to spot these is by identifying certain 'red flags' that are almost always present. The following are the most common hallmarks of such scams:

• You are contacted, usually out of the blue and promised a large return or reward. You are unlikely to have ever heard of or been involved with the persons/organisations concerned.
• Before the reward materializes, you are asked to pay a sum of money for various reasons, usually as a clearance fee, administrative costs, taxes, etc. This is the advance-fee part of the scam and often such payments are never required in the circumstances, or even by law.
• Tempted by the potential return, you send the money in good faith. The usual request is for the money to be sent via some dubious methods (e.g. Western Union, Moneygram, prepaid cards, etc). These are the favoured payment platforms for fraudsters as it is extremely difficult to trace the recipients of payments and also easy to hide behind a fake identity.
• Once the money has been sent, the fraudster either stops all contact and the reward never materializes, or they return and ask for further payments due to new unsuspected issues that have arisen since the last payment. Unfortunately, many victims fall for this trick again and continue to send payments until they have realised this is a scam, when it is often too late.

If you were due to pay any money or send further information, DO NOT do so. Cease all contact with the other party and do not communicate further with them.

If you wish to report this, the following options are available to you:

• You can report any scam to the Federal Trade Commission by emailing: spam@uce.gov
• If you have been told you are due to receive money you can contact your local Secret Service field office by emailing 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov
• If you have already sent money, contact your local State Attorney General
• If the scam originated through the internet or is in some way connected to the internet, submit a complaint to the Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3) by following this link: http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx

Yes it definitely is!

no, it is not just based on that, it is based on every factor I have mentioned. European Union Mass Assist Program also does not exist and the address you have been given is the European Commission's address and they most definitely do not give away prizes

My pleasure. Unless you need further help, I would be grateful if you could please quickly click to rate the service I have provided you with before leaving and choose one of the following options: OK Service, Good Service or Excellent Service. If you feel the need to leave a lower rating, please reply to me first with any further questions you have. I will be happy to assist further and clarify anything you need me to. Thank you

I suggest you simply copy and paste this conversation into a Word document. You can then save it or print it and refer to it in the future as necessary.

thank you