£825,000 win in Shard sweepstake is tall story
Mrs K.D. writes: I am sending you a letter from Graceton Security Company telling me I have won a sweepstake. I cannot believe that without any prior knowledge I have been entered in a draw and have won £825,000. The letter also refers to a ‘clearance fee’ which is due and it advises me to keep my win a secret. I am convinced this is a scam and I am far too long in the tooth to fall for it. YOU are absolutely right. This is a scam. There is no Graceton Security Company, according to Companies House. And if you go to the address on its letterhead, at 32 London Bridge Street, you find the Shard, one of the tallest buildings in Europe, with one of the greatest views over London, but with abso- lutely no sign of any sweepstake firm waving a cheque for £825,000.
Even Graceton’s postcode is a fake. The letter shows it as London SE1 9SY, but this is an obsolete code that was withdrawn about five years ago when existing buildings were demolished and the Shard went up.
Perhaps Graceton is in hiding as part of its advice that you keep your good fortune a secret. The letter explains: ‘This is part of our security protocols to avoid double claims and unwarranted abuse of this programme by nominees.’
As for double claims, this would hardly be surprising. A reader in Somerset (thank you, Mr W) has also sent me a copy of the letter he received from Graceton. And – would you believe it? – he has also won £825,000, with exactly the same lucky numbers shown in your letter, and he never entered for any prize draw either.
It is almost as if whoever is behind the scam has printed off loads of identical letters and sent them to people all over the country. Perhaps this trickster is simply looking to pocket lots of so-called ‘clearance fees’, while the £825,000 prize does not even exist.
That would be unthinkable, so in search of reassurance I rang the London number shown on Graceton’s notepaper: 020 7570 0342. I wanted to speak to Peter Addison, whose name is printed at the foot of your letter, though inexplicably the signature itself says ‘H. Hyndman’.
The name did not really matter. The number just rang and rang with no reply. If anyone had answered, I am confident they would have happily offered me the £825,000 instead of giving it to you. Just as long as I paid the ‘clearance fee’ first, of course.