Warnings given over EuroMillions lottery scam

Warnings given over EuroMillions lottery scam

WARNINGS GIVEN OVER EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY SCAM

Warnings have been given after it emerged a couple in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, England, had become the victims of a EuroMillions lottery scam and lost over £9,000. It's the latest in a series of lottery scams that have claimed many victims all over the world.The unlucky couple from Buntingford must have felt over the moon when they received the kind of letter we all dream about. It told them they had been lucky enough to 'win' £725,000 in the EuroMillions FIFA World Cup Super Lottery. No such lottery has ever existed. The bogus letters have apparently been sent from the address 39 St James Street in London and an address in Zurich, Switzerland.The couple from Buntingford were asked by the EuroMillions scam to pay an initial amount of £7.250 and a further £2,000 supposedly to be used to pay a solicitor to transfer the winnings. Other people from around England have lost more than £40,000 as a result of paying fees to the scammers.Hertfordshire County Council's trading standards team say they have received several reports of such EuroMillions scam letters. In order for 'winners' to claim their cash prize they need to telephone the number that is given on the letter. Once that is done, a 1% processing fee has to be paid and their full bank details need to be given.Roy Wilsher, Director of Community Protection said: "These letters are a scam. You cannot win a prize in a lottery that you have not entered and genuine lottery operators will not ask you to send them money before releasing winnings. I would urge anyone receiving one of these letters to simply bin it."Lottery scams are a continual problem and last month we told you about a woman in California, USA, who handed over $91,000. Please remember that EuroMillions prizes are not offered based on randomly selected mobile numbers or email addresses, and it is impossible to win on games which individuals did not enter. Nor will the lottery operator contact winners directly, as it is the responsibility of the players to come forward and claim their winnings.When you play online with us at Lottery24.com you receive a confirmation of your numbers and a draw notification which informs you of your wins.