SPANISH LOTTERY SCAM IS BACK - BEWARE OF FRAUD AND ID THEFT, WARNS MEP

11.24.00am GMT Fri 28th Mar 2008

Local Euro-MP Liz Lynne is warning constituents to be wary of bogus Spanish lottery win letters, one of which she received in the post recently, telling her she had won almost a million euros.

Having already been sent a similar letter in 2006, at a time when other UK residents were conned out of tens of thousands of pounds, Liz is advising anyone who receives such a letter to contact the authorities immediately.

Commenting today, Liz Lynne said:

"This despicable fraud has reared its ugly head again. The criminals behind these letters are clever because the letters they send look official, but if you do respond to them and give them personal details, you could find that money is taken from your account, or worse, your identity stolen for further scams."

"As with all these types of fraud, if you receive news that seems too good to be true, it probably is. So if you haven't entered a competition which a letter claims you have won, be careful and report it. Fraudsters are always on the look out for vulnerable people to take advantage of, but if everyone is vigilant we can beat them."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

To report a scam letter, contact the Consumer Direct advice service on 08454 04 05 06

The letter Liz received says she was one of seventeen winners sharing a €15,568,770 prize from 'La Primitiva' lottery in Spain - a genuine lottery. To claim the money however, she was told to send her personal and bank account details by fax to the office of a 'claims agent' in Madrid.

For a copy of the letter please contact us.