UK citizens have currently been targeted by unscrupulous con men professing that they had won the Canadian and Spanish lotteries. Regrettably, numerous individuals fell for the scam and lost thousands of pounds as they responded to more and more telephone calls requiring money to cover expenses before their ‘winnings’ could be released. The money is sent but the winnings do not exist.

It seems that things are getting worse rather than better with the UK National Lotto and EuroMillions being targeted in addition to successful syndicates such as e-Lottery. Also, the scams appear to be getting ever more advanced with people being contacted not just via e-mail and phone calls but by letter and text messaging too.

These scams succeed because they’re run by highly organized criminal gangs who are really professional. Both email and direct mail pieces are very convincing and telephone operators are very confident and reassuring. On the other hand, they target the most weak, frequently the elderly. These people want 2 things:

Your Cash Your identity

So how does the lottery scam work?

THE PITCH:

They provide you with something for nothing - such as:

you’ve won a major prize in a draw or a lottery (despite the fact that you haven’t gotten into one)

THE STING

They will ask you to:

send money up front - an administration fee or tax, the list is countless but it’s always a ruse to get you to give them money.

give them your bank, credit card or other personal details.

How you can avoid turning into a lottery scam victim:

make use of your common sense! If you didn’t enter a lottery, ie buy a ticket up front, you cannot actually win it.

Remember no legitimate lottery will request you for any cash in order for you to receive winnings.

If uncertain, check with the official operators (all of them have warnings regarding this scam on their websites.)

If you have gotten an e-mail, text, letter or phone call that you think to be bogus, delete it, throw it away or put the telephone down. Do not respond in any shape or form. This will just confirm your details and leave you open to further targeting and harrassment. Don’t be tempted to bank any monies that may have be sent as upfront payment. You’ll be liable.

In no way expose any personal, bank or credit card details.

DO seek advice from family, friends and other professionals.

Call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06

Lottery scam warning signs consist of:

The use of hard to track contact details like free email addresses (yahoo, hotmail etc) and PO Box numbers.

the approach, whether in writing, by phone, e-mail or text, is unsolicited

A really short time frame in which to respond to claim winnings.

A request for a ‘processing’ or ‘administration’ fee to obtain the winnings.

A request for personal, credit card or bank account details.

They ask you not to tell anyone with regards to the deal.

Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Nevertheless, despite the publicity surrounding the lottery scam, it does not seem to be disappearing.

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