Warnings issued over £1m EuroMillions lottery scam

WARNINGS ISSUED OVER £1M EUROMILLIONS LOTTERY SCAM

A warning has been issued about a lottery scam using the names of Richard and Angela Maxwell from Boston in Lincolnshire, England, who won a £53m EuroMillions jackpot in April of this year.The lottery scammers have been sending out bogus messages claiming that the EuroMillions winning couple want to donate £1m to six persons, selected at random as they celebrate winning their fortune.The email congratulates the recipient for their lucky break and informs them they are to receive a huge amount of money from the EuroMillions winners. It states: "Your email is among the six email addresses selected by a Google powered email newsletter software operated by registered British freelance tech experts upon our request to receive a cash donation of £1million from our family, payable by our affilate [sic] payout bank as part of ongoing celebrations to mark our massive Euromillions win."Then the fake email reveals that a small fee is required in order for the non-existent money to be released to them. Also required are the potential victim’s full name, age and address in order to fully process the transaction. However, these instructions only lead to a new email being received which asks for banking and insurance fees, tax and processing costs to be paid that cannot be subtracted from the non-existent donation from the EuroMillions lottery winners.A spokesperson for Camelot said: "We are aware that there are some organisations that attempt to obtain payment or personal details electronically from people under a variety of pretexts. We would urge people to remember that, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is."One of those receiving the email is Harry Gaffing from County Durham in England. He commented: "The strange thing is, when I tried to click on the link to see what it did, it didn't open anything up. Whether that is because someone has closed them down already, or they are so incapable they haven't been able to get this thing to work I don't know. It clearly is a scam, but when you read it, it is a very well-written scam."Lottery24.com sends you a written notification confirming your purchases and your numbers, and informs you in writing of all your winnings.