18/8/2004 - Lottery fraudsters target elderly

Cumbria County Council’s trading standards officers are warning members of the public to ensure they don't fall foul of the latest lottery con. The alert comes after a Barrow man received a phone call saying that he had won £50,000 on the Australian Lottery. The snag was that he had to send off £900 to obtain the prize!

Quick thinking staff at the Barrow branch of Thomas Cook raised the alarm with local trading standards officers when the man arrived to send the £900 moneygram transfer. Between them they managed to persuade the man that this was an elaborate confidence trick.

Phil Ashcroft, head of Cumbria trading standards, said, 

"Thousands of people throughout the country have received these phone calls. The callers are very persuasive, but totally dishonest. This latest scam is particularly unpleasant because it seems that the perpetrators are targeting the elderly. Last year a Kendal pensioner paid a total of £9,000 to fraudsters claiming that she’d won a prize in the Canadian Lottery. My advice is never to part with money or your bank details to claim a larger prize".

Simon Robinson, director, retail sales for Thomas Cook said: 

"I’m very proud of the team in Barrow who used their initiative to save this customer a large amount of money. With this kind of scam on the increase we have advised all our stores to be on the alert to help customers avoid being defrauded. Wherever possible our staff will try and ensure the beneficiary is known by the sender and point out the risks of sending funds overseas to unknown parties ".

If a person responds to an unsolicited phone call or letter telling them that they have been entered into a prize draw, their name will be added to what the Office of Fair Trading has called a "sucker list". This list is then made available to numerous scam operators. As a result the person on the list can expect a phone call congratulating them on winning a large lottery prize, and asking for a fee to release it.