Nice try boys, but I'm on to you now!
I received an 'award winning notification' of over 600 000 EUROS. Nice eh? The letter was printed in English. The envelope was addressed to me in my former married name, at my holiday home address in France! Alarm bell numero uno!
The papers looked quite official, clearly showing addresses, telephone ns, fax ns, email etc. Even the name of my claims agent 'Don manolo lopez, Foreign Operations Mgr - bet there aren't many of them in the Madrid phone book!
Curious as I am, I decided to phone them before filling in any information on their 'Lottery Payment Processing Form', which as well as bank details, asked me to state my next of kin. Nor could he give me an answer to the question, 'Where's the catch?' Alarm bell numero 2.
Think the guy panicked a bit when I spoke to him in Spanish. He continued to speak to me in English. I was told I could only claim by fax and that they would have to verify my identity. I put a different name on the faxed form and contemplated putting 'Police Officer - Fraud Squad' in the field marked profession.
Attentive to their clientele, I received a call at 8.30PM on a Saturday evening saying that my cheque was already being processed. On Monday morning the alleged 'Bank of Santander' called to ask me for 1900EUROS for insurance for the safe arrival of my cheque, seeing as I had refused to give them my bank details. ALARM BELLS ringing loud and clear now.
Next step was to google the info I already had and here we are. So, to be clear to everyone: It is a SCAM, 100% Scam. (Una estafa, un timo!) Do NOT send them any money, 'cos you can be damn sure they won't send you any!
Considering translating this text into Spanish and passing it on to the Policia de Madrid.
Liz
Bordeaux
France
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