Avoid fraud

The possibility of being a victim of fraudulent purchases, identity theft or false prizes is very high in the world we live in.

You should pay attention when buying lottery tickets, always go to reliable and safe websites, pay attention to emails, messages or phone calls that you receive where you are offered a lottery prize, and even pay attention to the possible commission of classic scams such as the tocomocho, which continues to leave victims, especially among the elderly.

Gaming operator and marketer impersonation scams

It is not uncommon for criminals to send messages, emails or even phone calls informing the recipient that they have won a EuroMillions or lottery prize on behalf of a lottery organisation or authorised lottery retailer.

If you receive such a message, informing you that you have won a lottery prize, be very careful as this is an internet scam. Keep in mind that the main weapon in the fight against fraud is common sense. If you have not played the lottery, it is not possible that you have won a prize. Therefore, you should not provide any personal details, information of any kind, let alone money.

Please note the following facts about these scams

1. Criminals often use fraudulent names but very similar to the original sweepstakes and authorised operators or marketers.
2. Names, addresses, offices or any sender details, although they may be real or very similar, are impersonation and therefore bear no relation to the sender of the message.
3. Contact information, emails and telephone numbers are genuinely fake.
4. You may be told in the message that paying increases your chances of winning. This is totally untrue and is only from a scammer.
5. If you are asked for money to collect the prize, be aware that real prizes are free to collect, and no official lottery body will ever ask you for money to cover taxes, prize processing fees or any other financial costs.
6. Be aware that the message you receive may give you the impression that you are the only person who won the prize, but the criminals have sent the message to many people. If you received the message by letter you can check the stamp, if it is a bulk mailing stamp there is your answer. If you received the message via the internet you can check or look to see if anyone else has received it on social media, blogs or chat rooms.
7. Another tip-off for criminals is that they may pressure you to act immediately to receive the prize. They may tell you that it is a time-limited offer and that the prize is time-limited.
8. Another indication that a message is fraudulent is that they may send you a cheque and ask you to return some of the money. This fraud is a fake cheque scam. If you try to cash the cheque, it will take a few days or even weeks for the bank to discover that the cheque is bad and counterfeit, but you will have already paid and your money will be gone.
9. Another fact is that criminals often use a foreign lottery in order to prevent their victim from having details of the supposed prize or knowing about the draws or prizes they want to scam you about.

Some tips to avoid falling for fraud

If the fraud is identity theft, be aware of the following:

1. Be wary of these messages and check addresses, telephone numbers, details and any sections of the message.
2. Be aware that these messages are usually sent from third countries, which makes it more difficult to track down the criminals.
3. Keep in mind that you cannot win a prize before the draw has taken place and especially not without participating in the draw.
4. At no time should you reply to these messages, you should not click on any links contained in these messages, and above all you should not provide them with information of any kind and especially not with money.
5. Organisers of prize draws must state certain things when communicating a prize, such as the procedure for claiming the prize. This procedure will always be done through a financial institution and without any handling costs of any kind on the part of the financial institution or the payer of the prize.

What do you do if you think you have been scammed or conned?

If they are trying to scam you or you have already been the victim of a lottery scam, you should contact the Police’s Telematic Crime Group, where they will inform you of the steps you should follow to report it. To do so, go to the website of the Telematic Crimes Group.

In addition, if you have not fallen into the fraud, but you have information about it, you can also inform the police on the website, www.police.uk

When you go to the police, you must provide all the information you have about the perpetrators and their modus operandi.