I've Won a Prize But They Want Me to Send Some Money
“I got a letter today from the Spanish National Lottery, saying that I’ve won the first prize in their lottery and that they are holding the prize for me. All I need to do is send them some money to cover the administration fee, and they will transfer the cash into my bank account.“It seems too good to be true, but I don’t even remember buying a ticket for this lottery so I’m a bit suspicious about it.”
Advice
You won’t be the only person to have received a letter like this, in fact there are many variations on the lottery windfall scam, and you’ll get them on your computer, by text on your mobile phone, even on your home phone number too. They always sound enticing, and will ask you to send money, or sometimes to call a number to find out exactly what you’ve won.Some of the most common ‘you’ve won a prize’ scams are in the form of prize draws or lotteries. These scam letters usually come from outside the UK, which means that the UK authorities are powerless to stop them, although there are often warnings in the press about the latest one. They sometimes use UK PO Box addresses to further complicate things.
How Can I Tell it’s a Scam?
The letters are often poorly written, and will usually come from abroad, and refer to lotteries that you’ve never heard of.Some of the letters will give you exclusive access to an overseas draw or lottery, or sometimes they are offering you membership of a lottery syndicate. The key point to look out for is that they aren’t doing this for nothing. They always want an administration fee or membership fee.
You should never have to pay anything to receive a prize. It’s more than likely that there never was any kind of prize, but if there actually is, you can assume that it will be a poor quality imitation of something, or a cheap prize that’s not worth the administration fee that you’re being asked to pay.
Don’t ever give your bank or credit card details out to this type of scam request. And certainly don’t give them out over e-mail if you’re sent a similar message by e-mail. If you get a text or telephone call from someone claiming you’ve won a prize in a lottery, you’d be well advised to ignore it, as calling them back will usually involve a premium rate number and a long telephone call where you listen to a recorded message that advises you somewhere towards the end that you’ve won a prize that’s not even going to cancel out the cost of your call.
If You Receive a Prize Confirmation...
- Did you actually enter the lottery or competition? If not, how did you manage to win?
- Don’t respond. If you do, your name and address will be added to the list of people destined to get multitudes of similar scam letters.
- Don’t call any premium rate telephone numbers
- Never ever give out your financial details – even if you’re asked to give them as ‘identification’.
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
Anthony Mrozowski of 22 Dove Hollow Cannock Ws121NY is an undischarged bankrupt. I do not advise you give him your money as…
Re: Legalities When Work on Your Home Goes Wrong
I employed GARY JONES, JONES DESIGN AND BUILD, 182 FAIRCLOUGH ROAD HUYTON LIVERPOOL 36 3UT AND JOHN…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
VERLINE CONSTRUCTION, ROBERT (ROB) ANDREWS, SOUTHEND, ESSEX - Claims to be in business 80 years however was only setup on…
Re: Avoiding Rogue Traders, Before it's Too Late
Anthony Mrozowski of 22 Dove Hollow Cannock Ws121NY is an undischarged bankrupt. I do not advise you give him…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
Staffordshire Trading Stadards Mark Wilson mark.wilson@staffordshire.gov.uk and phone number is 07969 268786. Trish Caldwell…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
THIS IS A P.S. Trading Standards found no trace of the company - this is because IT IS NOT WITH ANY GOVERNING BODY. He…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
PLEASE AVOID 1st Quality Roofing Leicester, now based in Beaconsfield. DON'T TRUST THE 5 STARS they get the bad reviews…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
SHANE GREEN from Epsom appears to be friendly and helpful then when you ask him to complete the job as per the described and…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
AVIOD H.LAING REFURBISHMENTS LTD - HALWAINE. He took a deposit did some works and took funds for material and the works…
Re: Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman
Avoid Anthony Mrozowski of A M Rendering in Cannock. he took our deposit and although he promises he lies and has not…