Lottery jackplot warning
SCAM CLAIMS GREAT-GRAN IS £385K WINNER Fraudsters hit postcode lotto
A scam is fooling entrants to the People’s Postcode Lottery into thinking they have won six-figure payouts.
Victims have been duped into reveal ing their bank details after receiving a letter claiming they are major winners.
Management of the London- based lot to competition are aware of the fraud and police are investigating.
Eleanor Brownlie received a let terr informing her shee had won £385,000.
The 76- year- old real ised she had been targeted when her niece raised concerns.
Eleanor, of Knightswood in Glasgow, said: “The letter congratulated me on my win.
“It gave a number to ring but when we phoned it was answered by a man with a foreign accent.
“We phoned three times and he kept saying he was engaged as he was dealing with lots of other phone calls.
“We obviously realised something wasn’t right.”
The People’s Postcode Lottery works by awarding cash prizes to registered players based on where they l ive. The prize is
Lynn McPherson
shared by every registered client in a given postcode.
Great- gran Eleanor’s letter read: “We’re happy to announce to you the results of the Postcode Lottery awards prog ramme held in London, United Kingdom.”
It advised winners to claim their prize by July 17 and said a claims company would be paid five per cent as commission after the cash had been paid. The mum-of-five said: “I don’t want anyone else to fall for this and not realise it’s a scam.
“I know not to give my bank or any other personal details out over the phone but not everyone does.”
When the Sunday Mail called the number and asked to speak to someone from the People’s Postcode Lottery, we were told to call back in half an hour.
A man then hung up the phone when our i nve s t igator a s k ed questions about Eleanor’s letter.
Rachel Ruxton, head of communications at People’s Postcode Lottery, said: “People’s Postcode Lottery are aware that sometimes illegitimate organisations will attempt to use our lot ter y’s brand to gain access to information supplied by unsuspecting members of the public.
“We take such matters very seriously. If you receive one of these letterletters, phone calls, SMSMS messages or ememails, we strongly adadvise the public to t reat these cocommunications as scams and they shoshould be ignored.
“L e g i t ima t e lotlotteries, such as PeoPeople’s Postcode LotLottery, will not reqrequest a payment in order to receive your winnings.”
She said that anyone who encounters a scam should report it to the UK’s national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud.
People’s Pos tcode Lottery are a subscription lottery in which players pay monthly in advance to play. There are 10 draws and players’ tickets are based on their postcode.
Act ion Fraud were unavailable for comment.