Lottery scam warning from Walsall Trading Standards
Date Published : 21 August 2008
A pensioner received half a stone in weight of junk mail after replying to a Spanish lottery scam, Walsall Trading Standards officers have revealed.
They provided the elderly resident with a box specifically for his junk mail to be posted into and when they went to empty it, four months later, they found he had been inundated with unsolicited mail.
They are warning people to be wary of unsolicited letters from companies telling them they have won large sums of money.
Thousands of people across the country have received unsolicited phone calls and letters and thousands of pounds have been sent to fraudulent lottery schemes.
John Beavon, head of Walsall Council Trading Standards, said: “The majority of these so-called lotteries are based in Canada and Spain but there are now a number of British “companies” jumping on the bandwagon.
“A major problem with these scams is that once somebody replies to a letter their details get passed on to other companies and that person then becomes inundated with unsolicited letters and telephone calls.
“One elderly Walsall resident replied to a letter from the Spanish lottery and has since received a ridiculous amount of similar mail.
“Walsall Council officers provided him with a box to post all of his junk mail into and went back four months later to empty it.
“They put the mail on a set of scales and it weighed in at 4.3kg or just over half a stone.”
Typical scams operate in one of three ways:
- Offer access to a winning ticket or the prize in an overseas draw, or membership of a lottery syndicate, in return for an “administration” or “registration” fee
- Require a purchase of some kind to receive a “prize”
- Suggest that there are Government funds available to be claimed by individuals
Mr Beavon added: “There is generally no prize or reward on offer and anything that is “won” is usually sub-standard, over-priced or falsely described and worth much less than the requested fee.”
Walsall Trading Standards is advising people that they can reduce the amount of unsolicited mail they receive by signing up free to the Mail Preference service by calling 0845 703 4599 or online at
Officers are also urging people to remember the following few points when considering whether to reply to unsolicited mail:
- Ask yourself: “How could I win a lottery prize if I haven’t bought a ticket?” If it looks to good to be true it usually is
- You shouldn’t have to pay to receive something you have won
- Once you respond to bogus promotions your name and address is likely to be placed on other lists for similar scams
- Premium rate telephone numbers can be very expensive and may be part of the scam
- Never reveal credit card or bank account details unless you are absolutely sure who you are dealing with. These details may be asked for as “identification.”
- Ask for advice – call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.