Lottery Fortune from Spain?

Also a request for the payment of service charge for the delivery of the pretended lottery prize should not be followed.

The prize notices usually bear names of existing foreign lotteries such as “European Lotteries”, “ El Gordo de la Primitiva”, “Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE)”, “El Mundo Lotto Company S.A.” or fancy names such as “Fortune Loteria”, “Victoria State Lottery”, "EuroMilliones" etc.

It works as follows…

The addressee is told that he had won a prize from a lottery (usually a huge cash amount), even despite the fact that he never took part in the lottery. For a quick receivement of the prize, the consumer should 

• either pay in advance for the receivement of the prize
• or send back his/her personal data (copy of ID card) or bank-connection details 

According to the message, this all should be done within a very short period of time in order to prevent the expiry of the promised claim.  

For contact often only a phone number, E-mail or postal address is mentioned in the message.

The fraudsters’ tricks

• Once a contact with the lottery firma is established in order to receive the prize, the would-be winner will be asked for the payment of  money for the delivery of the prize (often a four-digit Euro-amount).
   
• After the transfer of the money a service charge for the payment of the promised prize (often a four-digit Euro-amount also).
   
• Sometimes the victim is informed by a would-be bank assistant that the bank-transfer of the already deposited prize could not be executed because the tax (certain % of the prize) would have to be paid in advance due to the lack of a residence in Spain.
   

After the payment: nothing happens 

When all the requested amounts of money has been transferred (amounts up to several thousands Euros) the lottery organiser does not respond anymore and the money paid by the trustful victims is irretrievably lost.

Various experiences show that payments to foreign lotteries never should be made in advance, especially if the consumer did not take part in the lottery before.

Formal claim at the police

The only way to fight for justice is to report this fraud to the police and make a formal claim.
Some of the members of the gangs, who operated from Spain, have already been arrested and handed over by the Spanish police. 

Do not react at all and never pay in advance!

Thus, the European Consumer Centre Austria warns of letters or emails announcing the winning of a foreign lottery prize. No personal data and bank-connection details should be sent in reply to such messages. In no case any payments should be done. Officially accredited foreign and domestic lottery organisers never ask for any prepayments for the purpose of the prize payment.

Be careful with personal data

The European Consumer Centre Vienna recommends to be extremely cautious when handling with personal data (especially the bank account number). The information about the account number can enable fraudsters to withdraw money despite the lack of an approving declaration or withdrawal order issued by the account owner. Each company can apply for the withdrawal of money from bank accounts just by telling the account number. The financial institutes often do not verify if a withdrawal warrant by the account owner had been given before.

If you have already disclosed your details, check thoroughly your banking statements. In the case of an unrightful withdrawal you can still apply for the refund of the amount concerned within the period of 42 days.

Existing Spanish Lotteries warn of fraudsters

Spanish lotteries such as Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE) inform that fraudsters of several nationalities abuse the credit and business names of the Spanish Lottery in various countries, esp. in Southeast Asia and Pacific, as well as on the American continent.

According to several information known to the European Consumer Centre Austria,  fraudulent activities in Europe concerning lotteries and sweepstakes tend to grow stronger.   

The criminals move easily around the world using mobile phones, post-office boxes, temporary or false addresses such as names which remind of accredited institutions “el Gordo”, “la Primitiva”, “European Lottery Comission” etc.. Furthermore, they falsify the printed documentation and signatures of various financial institutes.

In addition, we would like to remind you that the participation in foreign lotteries is forbidden by law within the territory of Austria.

Vienna, October 2008