EL GORDO LOTTERY SCAM WARNING

[Curious Nelly]

http://www.oft.gov.uk/oft_at_work/consumer_initiatives/scams/lotteries

El Gordo lLottery **

The official operator of the Spanish El Gordo lottery, Loterias y Apuestas de Estado has issued a warning about*fraudsters using the name El Gordo and forging documentation and bank forms to obtain money under false pretences.*

Mailings and emails*are being sent to UK consumers claiming they have won the Spanish lottery. In order to claim their 'prize', recipients are asked to provide their bank account details and told that 5-10 per cent of the winnings will be retained for costs. However the 'winners' are later contacted and asked for various fees in order to release their alleged prize, and they never receive a penny.*Genuine Spanish lottery prizes are always free from taxes.
If you receive fraudulent El Gordo material you can help the investigations of Loterías y Apuestas de Estado by sending a copy to the following address:
Loterías y Apuestas del Estado
Legal Advice Service
C/ Guzmán el Bueno* nº 137
28003 Madrid
Spain

Fax number: 00 34 91 533 51 36
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Per Entertainer,
Please see also: http://elgordo.com/info/scamsen.asp
Thanks for the update and link..
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See also: article by Entertainer http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13367

[Curious Nelly]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/18/spain_lottery_scam_arrests/

Spain cuffs Wi-Fi leeching lottery scammers

El Gordo ladrones

By John Leyden
Published Monday 18th February 2008 23:44 GMT

Spanish police have arrested ten Nigerians suspected of running a spam-fuelled lottery scam that raked in €19,000 ($28,000) in illicit earnings over three months.

Investigators say the gang, based in Malaga in southern Spain, piggybacked the wireless internet access of a neighbour to pump out false claims that recipients had hit it lucky with lottery wins. To get their "winnings", recipients were told that must first pay "processing fees" up-front. Victims, at least some of whom live outside Spain, were asked to cough up €1,250 or more, according to local reports (in Spanish).

Seven arrests were made in Malaga, and three in Huelva province, southwestern Spain. Police recovered €15,500 in cash, bank documents and forged letterheads, in an operation codenamed "Irán". The name was inspired by an Iranian who sparked the investigation last year, by complaining that he had been defrauded.

The gang claimed to represent "El Gordo Español loteria". Lotteries are a national institution in Spain, with the Spanish Christmas Lottery (El Gordo de Navidad) among the richest lotteries of the world, in terms of total payout. It seems unlikely that locals would be taken in by a ruse based on a fictional firm.

In recent years, Malaga has become a focus of criminal investigation into lottery scams. Three years ago 310 people were arrested in Malaga, following an joint investigation by the FBI and Spanish police into the biggest ever bust of a lottery scam gang®

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See also: News article at http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15052