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Several Tele-marketing Lottery scams appear to be orchestrated in Canada and targeted at U.K. residents, particularly the elderly. This particular fraud appears to be a new twist to the more familiar and recent “mail shot” Canadian Lottery sales frauds plaguing U.K. citizens.
Many U.K. nationals have received telephone calls from male and female persons claiming to be representing various Canadian "Lottery Corporations". The recipients of these calls are informed that they are the “lucky winner” in a Canadian or other foreign lottery and have won a substantial sum of money.
The caller explains that the winnings will be personally presented to the winner in the U.K. along with media exposure, but only when the “winner” has dispatched one per cent of the total winnings via wire transfer to Canada. The victim transfers the required amount, usually via Western Union, to the "Lottery Corporation" representative who provides what seems to be a genuine address. Some victims manage to obtain a Canadian telephone number from the fraudsters but, without exception, the area code does not match the province or area where the victim is instructed to wire transfer the “advance collection fee”. Needless to say, the victim has not won any money and, as soon as the “advance collection fee” has been transferred, the victim will never hear from the fraudsters again.
The frauds primarily originate from Vancouver and Toronto. The Canadian authorities have started three separate investigations to collect complaint data and identify the perpetrators, but the Canadian High Commission in London has no facility to accept complaints - U.K.residents are advised to report the fraud to their local police who will send details on via Interpol.
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