BOGUS ‘Health Lottery UK’ letters have been dropping through letterboxes in Warwickshire.
Trading standards officers are warning residents about the scam ‘health’ related lottery letter which claims the recipient has won £420,000 after being selected at random from an NHS database.
The letter – addressed ‘Bank St Canary Wharf London’ and signed ‘Dr D. Hoff’ – asks the recipient to phone a ‘Dr Ruben Sanders’ to claim their prize.
Warwickshire County Council community safety spokesman Andy Crump said: “Fraudsters use scam lottery letters to draw people in to revealing their personal and financial data, information that could be used to steal their money.
“They may also ask you to send money to receive your non-existent prize. Remember, you can’t win a lottery you never entered. Don’t respond to scam letters, throw them in the bin.”
The Health Lottery is aware of these scam letters and has alerted reporting centre Action Fraud.
Tips for avoiding scams include:
– Never respond to such letters
– Requests for a fee payment is a good indication of fraud.
– Never disclose bank details or pay fees in advance.
– Be wary of email addresses such as @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com or numbers beginning with 07.
– Lotteries thrive on publicity and so requests to keep winnings a secret indicate fraud.
– Bad spelling and grammar is a warning sign.
