Elderly man conned out of life savings

Lottery scams have been around for a while now but still people are falling victim to these heartless crimes and more often than not elderly vulnerable people are being targeted. Recently in Weston Super Mare an elderly man was conned out of his life savings of £26,000 after falling prey to lottery con artists.

The 76 year old lottery scam victim received a letter telling him that he had won the Spanish Lottery and all he had to do to claim his life-changing lottery prize was send a series of payments, for legal reasons, to release his winnings. The man, whose wife is seriously ill in hospital, saw the lottery prize as a chance to ease the pressure of paying for his wife’s care but unfortunately for him his prize never materialised.

Over recent years more news of these lottery scams have surfaced, which use increasingly sophisticated ways of conning people including a ‘sucker lists’, which is a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of vulnerable people who have one way or another responded to certain prize draw and lottery promotions.

Here are some tips to avoid becoming the next lottery scam victim:

• Always be suspicious. If it looks too good to be true, it is.

• Be wary of any unsolicited letters or phone calls, especially if you are being asked to send money.

• Never phone a number unless you’re absolutely certain of the costs involved.

• Never disclose banking or personal details to anybody who you don’t know.

• Don’t think that an official stamp or name means that the sender can be trusted. Always verify the details via a third party.

The final way to avoid becoming a victim of lottery scams is to buy tickets to lotteries, as opposed to believing that you can win lottery prizes just by receiving a phone call or letter. You can buy tickets to the National Lottery and other reputable lotteries right here at Online Lotto by simply clicking the tabs at the top of the screen.