Lotterywest Warns Australians of Lotto Scam

Friday 3 February, 2012 17:33

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Lotterywest, the Western Australia lottery group, has warned consumers not to fall for an email scam currently doing the rounds, which is being conducted under the guise of Lotterywest.

A joint warning was issued by Lotterywest and Consumer Protection, after many consumers reported that they had received a scam email telling them they had won the lottery. In all cases, the 'wins' turned out to be bogus.

Lotterywest said that the emails, which contained their official logo, informed consumers that they had won $1 million in a draw that was held by the UK National Lottery Commission.

As such, Lotterywest advised Western Australians not to respond to these scam emails, as it gave the scammers something to work with.

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"Responding to the email lets scammers know that the email address is live and you will be the target of further scam attempts," said Anne Driscoll, the commissioner of Consumer Protection.

She said that people who had responded had received a fake certificate displaying the logos of Lottery West, the UK National Lottery Commission and the Western Australian government. The reply email also tells 'winners' that their money is being held for release.

"It is likely that the promoters of this scam will require the recipients to disclose their bank account details and provide identification which puts them at risk of being victims of identity theft," said Driscoll. "It is also highly likely that the scammers will request some sort of fee to cover the release of the prize money."

Following Lotterywest's warning of the lotto scam, the group said that it never advises winners by email or other electronic means.

£4 Million to be Won in Saturday Lotto

In the meantime, there are (real!) millions to be won in this weekend's Saturday Lotto draw (February 4th), where eight balls are drawn from a total of 45. The first six balls drawn are the Winning Numbers, while the last two drawn are Supplementary Numbers.

The six prize division Saturday Lotto offers players a one in 144 chance of winning any prize, although, naturally, the more winning numbers players have, the bigger the payout.

This is also another reminder to diarize next Saturday, February 11th, when a Lotto Superdraw is scheduled to take place with a division one prize of $20 million!

Lotterywest offers players the chance to play online during operating hours. The online system boasts a number of handy tools, including the opportunity to save your favourite lottery numbers and play them again and again. Tickets online cost the same as those sold at retail outlets.

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