Koreans suffer from “Spanish lottery” scam
Koreans suffer from “Spanish lottery” scam
International lottery swindler groups active in Spain have swindled many Koreans. They informed some Koreans that they had won a huge cash prize, grabbed money as commission and then broke contact with the victims. Three persons were swindled out of 16 million won (US $14,000). According to English.chosun.com, one victim was reported by the police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to has been cheated out of 75 million won (US $65,200) last November.
Eleven cases of fraud were reported to the Spanish Embassy in Seoul. Three of the victims sent the money between June and August.
The scammers, which were of different nationalities, used various lottery-related schemes including junk e-mail, mail and fax messages telling some Koreans about their huge cash victory. They asked victims to send some money as ‘commission’ for their prize and then broke contact with ‘winners’.
According to Times.hankooki.com, the e-mail “Final award winning notification” message was emblazoned with the logo of Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (LAE), the Spanish Lottery, in order to make people believe in its authenticity.
“In order to carry out the fraud, the procedure that is generally followed consists of informing the potential victim that they have been the lucky winner of a substantial prize, (even if they have not participated in any drawing), although they cannot collect this prize until they have paid an amount going towards the taxes, bank costs, delivery costs or insurance processing,'' said the representative of Loterias y Apuestas del Estado said.
According to the official, the swindlers also claimed the prize money was deposited in a secret management service company, requesting money worth some $2,000 to $3,000 for the various expenditures.
The LAE has recently put a warning message on its Web site requesting the public not to pay any amount requested by the spam messages. The company reported on the Korean case and warn gamblers about similar schemes via mobile phones and using addresses of prestigious institutions like the European Lottery Commission.
“Spanish lottery prizes are always free of taxes, and the Spanish police have already arrested and prepared legal procedures against some of the members of groups who were operating from Spain,'' the LAE stated.
The Spanish Embassy in Seoul last month sent an official letter to the Korean foreign ministry in an effort to prevent any more similar cases.
Police investigators said many of scammers are suspected to be from some Middle Eastern and African countries and said that Spanish lottery tickets are sold only in Spain and only those who purchased tickets could be true winners.
