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Lottery scammers use police name

Fraudsters trying to get members of the public to believe they have won the lottery have used the City of London Police’s name in an attempt to make their scam seem legitimate.

Lottery Balls Bouncing

An email claiming to be from ‘Constable John Bruce’ ‘guaranteed’ the competition, and asked the recipient to confirm their contact details. Detectives believe the fraudsters’ next step would be to ask for an admin fee to process the prize.

An outdated City of London Police logo and address are used in a bid to make the e-mail seem genuine.

If you have received similar emails then please forward them to City of London Police at [email protected].

If you have paid money in a scam like this, report it to Action Fraud.

Advice from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau:

  • Treat unsolicited communication (e-mail, phone calls and letters) that offer financial gain with extreme suspicion.
  • Lotteries should not ask for a fee to release your winnings so do not believe it if you are asked to pay one.
  • Contact the organisation named using independently sourced contact details, not the details they have supplied to you, to see if they are legitimate.
  • Never hand out your bank details unless you have checked the organisation is genuine using a number of channels.
  • Remember that fraudsters will impersonate large organisations such as banks, government departments or the police in an attempt to give credibility to their scam.

Read more about the lottery scam on the City of London Police website.

Please note: Action Fraud is not responsible for the content on external websites.

To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.

See also:
Lottery scams
Advance fee fraud
Microsoft Lottery' is a scam

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