Ealing’s trading standards team save couple from losing £8,650 to crooks
A Hungarian couple who travelled to London to collect promised lottery winnings were saved from losing £8,650 to crooks, after Ealing Council’s trading standards team intervened.
Mr Balazs Lukacs and his wife had flown to London to collect the promised prize of £292,717 in the bogus U.K. National Lottery Sweepstake, but were told they first had to hand over £8,650 in stamp duty, tax and other fees for the funds to be processed.
The scam also required Mr Lukacs to complete and return a signed bank transfer form with full account details and copies of his passport and international driver’s licence.
The couple were staying in Acton and sought advice from police officers at Acton Police Station, before their planned meeting with lottery representatives at Heathrow airport. The police referred them to the council’s trading standards officers, who immediately identified the lottery as a scam and urged the couple not to part with their money.
Cllr Will Brooks, cabinet member for environment and transport, who is responsible for trading standards, said “Ealing’s trading standards officers immediately identified the lottery as a scam and stopped the couple from handing over their life savings to these unscrupulous crooks.The genuine UK National Lottery would never ask winners to pay a handling fee to collect their prize, and they would never ask them to disclose personal information.”
The intervention by Ealing trading standards supports the council’s priority of building safer communities. The council’s other two priorities are cleaner streets and providing value for money services.
Trading standards consumer legal advisor Ranjan Parmar, who met with the couple, said: “This was an extremely intricate and complex scam and Mr Lukacs had significant supporting paperwork from the bogus lottery organisation.
“He had entered into an online lottery from Hungary and believed he truly had won, convinced by official-looking paperwork, friendly correspondence about arrangements in London, and contact details for lottery representatives. He was even given options for how he would like to collect the money.
“I advised them not to part with their money and alert their bank immediately. They were disappointed but very grateful for saving them from losing so much money. Sadly, this is just one of hundreds of lottery scams operating throughout the world. We hope this close call will encourage other people to think twice before handing over their cash or personal details.”
In October, the council’s trading standards team received advice about a Spanish scam from a West Ealing resident. The resident had received a bogus letter from Loteria Primitiva, announcing he had won €415,810 and requesting personal details.
In both cases, the scam correspondence asked the ‘winners’ to keep their win confidential for security reasons.
December 23, 2006