Fraudsters are taking advantage of well-known lottery and prize draws to trick innocent people into handing over money and personal information.
During the last seven months, unsuspecting victims have handed over almost £1 million to lottery fraudsters, according to the latest reports from Action Fraud.
Callous crooks have been contacting victims informing them they have won a lottery or prize draw but must first pay an "advance fee" before they can receive their winnings. However, these winnings are non-existent and part of a cruel trick being played out by criminals attempting to steal the victim's money or personal and financial information.
Action Fraud said it received 629 reports of lottery fraud between April and October 2021, with 89 per cent of cases mentioning well-known prize draws.
Impersonations of the People's Postcode Lottery accounted for 49 per cent of all reported incidents. Some 70 per cent of victims were aged over 50, with those aged over 65 making up 40 per cent of reports.
More than half of victims (59%) were contacted by telephone, 21 per cent received an email and 10 per cent received their fraud attempt through the post.
Almost half of victims (41%) said they were asked to pay the advance fee to release the alleged winnings by purchasing gift cards and relaying codes to the fraudster.
Fraudsters use gift cards as a form of payment as they can be easily redeemed and sold on.
Criminals do not need the physical card to redeem the value and instead ask victims to share the serial code on the back of the card with them.
Other victims provided their bank details after being told they would receive a small payment to verify their account, but criminals used these details to steal money.
People's Postcode Lottery managing director Clara Govier said: "Please remember, People's Postcode Lottery will never ask for any kind of payment to claim a prize, you can't win if you don't play, and we don't offer discount cards.
"We know scammers often use social media. Our official social media accounts are verified so there'll always be a blue tick beside our name. If there isn't, the message isn't from us.”
Temporary detective chief inspector Craig Mullish, from the City of London Police, said: "Criminals are experts at impersonating organisations and will mimic a number of well-known prize draws to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.
"Remember, you can't win a draw that you haven't entered so if you're contacted out of the blue claiming you've won a prize draw but can only access these winnings by paying an advance fee, stop and think as it's likely to be a scam.”
Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of fraud should contact their bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040 or Police Scotland via 101.
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