Local man warns of scam

Published on 17th August 2006 in News

A Goole man is warning fellow residents not to respond to any literature they may receive claiming that they have won ?460,000 as part of a Spanish lottery.

The reader, who does not wish to be named, received a letter at his home on Centenary Road last week from a company called El Gordo de la Loteria Primitiva, based in Madrid, stating that his name was attached to a series of winning lottery numbers and that he was eligible for a payout of the equivalent of ?459,000, but in euros.

Fortunately, the resident became suspicious when he saw that his bank details were requested and that ten per cent of his winnings would be ?retained for costs?.

He said: ?I?m elderly and I know that this is a scam, but there may be others in the area that are particularly gullible and could fall for something like this.?

The El Gordo lottery is the official Spanish lottery, but it is open only to Spanish residents, and the people behind the scam are not connected to the genuine El Gordo lottery.

A spokesperson for the Office of Fair Trading told this newspaper that there have been several attempts to stop the fraudsters, but similar scams were opening up all the time.

He said: ?In order to claim their prize, recipients are asked to provide their bank account details and are told that five to ten per cent of the winnings will be retained for costs.

?However, the winners are later contacted and asked for various fees in order to release their alleged prize - but they never receive a penny. A legitimate lottery would not ask for any payment, and winners would only be eligible for a cash prize if they had actually entered the lottery in the first place.

?Our advice is that anyone receiving these letters should not part with any money or offer any bank details under any circumstances.?