Australian pensioner not fooled by EuroMillions scam

Peter Kennedy from Berkeley near Sydney, Australia received a bogus letter telling him he had won a huge prize in the EuroMillions lottery but the suspicious Australian pensioner was not fooled by the EuroMillions scam and instead of replying he forwarded the letter to the authorities.

Just like the many other lottery scams seen around the world the letter told Mr Kennedy that hes was a lottery winner and that a guaranteed lottery prize was his if he provided his credit card details to pay a small admin fee. He is quoted as saying “Anything going cheaply is bound to be not much good, nobody runs around giving you $40,000.” The letter seemed to be completely legitimate at first glance, containing an Australian Business Number and an official signature but Mr Kennedy knew something was wrong when he saw that the return address was in Holland. He said “I don’t know anyone in Holland”.

A spokesperson for Australia’s ministerial and parliamentary operations at the NSW Office of Fair Trading said “While there are a variety of lottery scams in circulation they are essentially the same and that Mr Kennedy’s letter was just one of the many lottery scams sent from abroad”. They continued by saying “There are no prizes and any consumer who responds risks losing money and having their identity stolen.”

Mr Kennedy is keen to find out how the scammer got his details saying “It had my full name, and I never sign my full name,” he said. “I’d like to know how they got (my details).” The language used in the letter was also a hint that something wasn’t quite right with quotes like ‘“you are a silly goose – why haven’t you claimed the $40,000 you’ve won?”.

In the meantime Mr Kennedy has urged others to carefully check what arrives in their mail saying “If I’ve stopped someone from getting conned or robbed, all the better.”

If you want to play the EuroMillions safe in the knowledge that there are no scams amidst simply click the EuroMillions link below and buy your tickets online where you details are safe, you can’t lose your ticket and you’ll even be notified of any win by email.