Pensioner Gets Last Laugh at Scammers’ Expense

July 7, 2015 by  
Filed under Lottery News

A pensioner from Tayside has had a laugh at the expense of criminals who attempted to raid her life savings by pretending she was due a large lottery win. Maureen Mills was contacted by the group, believed to be operating from West Africa, and told that she had won £720,000 in the EuroMillions Baku Lottery. Knowing it was a scam, Maureen decided to ring the number provided and have a little fun by seeing what happened.

The 64 year-old was told that a cheque for the lottery ‘win’ would be sent out and, two days later, she received another letter demanding a one percent “clearance charge” before the it could be paid. Maureen rang the group again and insisted that she wouldn’t give out personal details over the phone, “I even suggested that they give me the money and then I would send them the one per cent,” she recalls, saying that “he got confused and said he would ring me back.”

When the man called again and told her that was not possible, she set about wasting his time by asking numerous questions before agreeing to divulge her bank details, but instead quoting an account number that consisted solely of zeros. The man eventually terminated the call, leaving Maureen triumphant, but also concerned that some others may not be so savvy about lottery scams.

The golden rule is that you simply cannot win a lottery that you did not enter. In addition, no legitimate lottery will demand payment in advance for clearance of funds, admin or taxes of any sort. You should also be wary of giving out personal information over the phone or online. If you play lotteries like Lotto and EuroMillions online, you will receive an email to tell you if you are a winner, but it is up to you to log in to your account and begin the claims process. Maureen saw the signs of a scam right away, but others may not – visit the Scams page at Euro-Millions.com to learn more about how to protect yourself from fraud.

Lottery Scammer Off The Streets – At Last

February 19, 2013 by  
Filed under Lottery News

An international lottery scam which was uncovered after 13 people around the world were defrauded out of an average of £200,000 each was finally shut down this week, after the jailing of the Nigerian gang, including one man who was a resident via marriage in the UK. London based Osas Odia, 33, acted as the money launderer for the group, and was responsible for running the immense sums of money tricked out of naïve victims through three bank accounts, before it was sent to cohorts in Nigeria. The remaining members of the gang were jailed in Nigeria. Read more

Elderly man conned out of life savings

October 28, 2009 by  
Filed under Lottery News

Lottery scams have been around for a while now but still people are falling victim to these heartless crimes and more often than not elderly vulnerable people are being targeted. Recently in Weston Super Mare an elderly man was conned out of his life savings of £26,000 after falling prey to lottery con artists.

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Five men arrested for lottery scams

October 13, 2009 by  
Filed under Lottery News

Three Nigerians and two Indians were arrested in Deli over the weekend and are facing charges of fraud. The five men arrested for these lottery scams would ask their unsuspecting victims to deposit money into fraudulent bank accounts, promising them huge lottery jackpots in return.

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South Africans are being targeted more and more by lottery scammers

August 17, 2009 by  
Filed under Lottery News

As the 2010 FIFA World Cup draws closer South Africans are being targeted more and more by lottery scammers. South Africans are receiving bogus lottery win emails in the run up to next years World Cup and a special police task force has been created to attempt to crack down on these scams.

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