Every day people throughout the UK open their post or turn on their
computer to find out they’ve won thousands or millions in an
overseas lottery…THESE ARE ALL FALSE!! Thousands
of these scams are distributed in hopes of attaining either your
money or your personal information for financial gain and/or
identity theft.
These very discrete scams will entice you with false claims
that you have won generous amounts of money or expensive prizes,
often offering you a winning ticket or the prize in return for an
'administration' or 'registration' fee. However, in reality the
prize NEVER exists.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is warning
consumers not to respond to a new type of lottery scam targeting
the UK which uses
counterfeit cheques to try and convince recipients that their
promised win is genuine. Scams are becoming increasingly more
sophisticated and everyone needs to be on their guard.'
Scenarios commonly used.
Lottery scams follow a certain pattern and in all instances they
will originate from a lottery you don’t remember entering. Scams
use the names of legitimate lottery organisations, but this does
not mean the legitimate organisations are in any way involved with
the scams. In the beginning, you will receive an unexpected
notification claiming that "You have won!" a large sum of money, or
a prize. Then depending on the scam (see below), you will be asked
to pay some sort of fee or to send in money, or you will be asked
for your personal information.
The use of the Spanish El Gordo Lottery as a
means of scamming victims is becoming increasingly more common. In
using the legitimate name of El Gordo and forging documentation and
bank forms these fraudsters seek to obtain money under false
pretences. In order to claim their 'prize', victims are asked to
provide their bank account details and are told that 5-10% of the
winnings will be retained for costs. However the 'winners' are
later contacted and asked for various fees in order to release
their alleged prize fund, and they NEVER receive a
penny.
An Advance Fee Fraud is a scam that hooks you with
the false promise of large sums of money for little or no effort on
your part. Once you're deeply involved in the scam, you're asked to
pay certain amounts of money to expedite the process. Victims have
lost up to £300,000 on the lottery by responding to more and more
telephone calls demanding payments to cover costs in order to
receive their winnings. You yourself may even be asked to contact a
claims agent following an administrative mix-up and provide
personal details over the phone so your winnings can be paid, but
you will NEVER receive any cash payment.
One scenario involves a foreign government
official asking for your kind assistance in transferring
funds out of his country and in return he/she will pay you a hefty
commission if you agree. Through continual correspondence you may
be asked for advanced payment fees or personal details in order to
release funds. You may receive what appears to be a valid cheque as
a lump sum of your transfer, which you must cash and send as fees
in order to receive your commission. The cheque is most likely a
counterfeit or stolen and your bank will realise this only when
it’s too late and after the scammers have made good their escape
with your money. You will be responsible for the full amount.
You may receive news that you stand to inherit
millions of pounds from a relative you don't remember or
someone in Africa who has inherited millions and requires your help
to access their newfound wealth. In order for the inheritance money
to be transferred an advance payment similar to those mentioned
above is necessary to progress the transaction or cover
administrative costs, but again you will NEVER
receive any money.
IN REALITY you cannot win a foreign lottery
when you haven't bought a ticket. There are no such things as
"email" draws or any other lottery where "no tickets were sold" and
in nearly all regions it remains illegal for a real lottery to
charge any sort of fee regardless of it’s stated use. Remember, a
legitimate lottery will NEVER ask you to pay a fee
in order for you to collect your prize nor will it ask you to wait
for a prolonged period of time before notifying any close friends
or family.
By simply confirming names, email addresses or telephone
numbers, you may be providing information that can be used to carry
out identity fraud. This information is used to steal your identity
and could potentially inconvenience you financially in the
future.
Visit - http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/campaigns/scams/
Call OFT Consumer Direct
on 08454 04 05 06
DorsetPolice – Economic Crime Unit –
January 2009