Rye resident’s warning over ‘lottery winner’ scam

Jane Hay, of Old Brickyard, received a letter from the Euromillions People’s International Postcode Lottery Program telling her she had won £715,000 on Tuesday, October 6.

After becoming instantly suspicious and some digging on the Internet, she discovered warnings about the letter online.

Ms Hay did not believe it but she said she is concerned that other people in Rye may be less cautious.

“I showed the letter to one or two people and immediately grabbed the computer and found lots and lots of warnings about it on the net,” she said.

“There are quite a lot of vulnerable people in Rye who may believe it.

“I know there are a lot of people in Rye who may be vulnerable and who may not use social media very much and these are the ones who might go for it.

“So if we can stop it here at least in Rye, that would be great.”

Ms Hay works as a tour guide and said she is suspicious of everything as she is always responsible for the people she shows around.

She said this instinct helped her to not be fooled by the letter saying she must claim her winnings by November 6.

“I was immediately incredibly suspicious and I want to warn the people I show around about various things as a tour guide,” she said.

“Often I am the only person they know in this country and there are all sorts of things that you have to warn them about.”

The letter from Brussels, Belgium, claims to be a part of the official Euromillions lottery and was set up to promote the Baku 2015 European Games.

It says to call Mikkel Halvor of Wharf Financial Consultants to collect the ‘winnings’.

It also says: “Please to help us proceed with your claims, this information must be kept away from public to avoid unwarranted abuse of the program or fraudulent acts from criminal minded and unauthorised person(s).”

Clive Winter, from Bexhill, was also a recipient of the scam letter and he even had to pay for the privilege because he had to collect it from the Post Office.

If you have fallen victim to a scam, or know someone who has, call police on 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit: www.actionfraud.police.uk.

Sussex Police have been contacted for comment.

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