Lottery fraudsterspreyingon elderly

POLICE in South Yorkshire have issued a warning about a lottery scam after an elderly Rotherham woman was conned out of more than 32,000.

Victims of the scam receive a phone call congratulating them on their win and are then told they must send money to pay for taxes and processing fees.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Often these calls are repeated and the victims are asked to send further sums.

“People have lost thousands of pounds through such schemes. The prize doesn’t exist, and the ‘winner’ never receives any winnings in return for their cash.

“Often, the elderly are targeted with this scam and advised not to tell family and friends about their alleged win.”

In one instance, the police spokesman said, an 86-year-old woman from Rotherham was contacted by telephone and told she had won 400,000 on an overseas lottery, but would have to send 1,800 to release the winnings.

Having sent the initial sum of money she was contacted again on more than 15 occasions, persuading her to send more than 32,000 to locations in Madrid, Spain and Ottawa, Canada.

In another case, a 91-year-old man from Rotherham was told he had won a “substantial” sum of money, but that he would need to send 4,000 to release these winnings. He was suspicious of his “win” and didn’t sent any money to the fraudster.

The police spokesman added: “If you haven’t entered a lottery then you can’t have won it. Official lotteries in other countries operate in much the same way as the UK’s National Lotto. No official lotteries that we know of contact people to tell them of their win.”

Victims of a lottery scam should contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or South Yorkshire Police on 0114 2202020.