There are an ever-growing number of lottery scams circulating in the world wide web. Although these scammers have used the name and address of Irish and UK Subscription Services in their fraudulent e-mails, we would like to stress that ILS is NOT involved in any way with any of these scams.
Please be vigilant. These lottery scams are cleverly and convincingly written, but deceptive and completely fraudulent. Thousands of people have lost money paying “commissions” and “charges” to receive cash prizes they've been told (falsely) they've won. Take for example, the latest Irish Lottery Scam which comes with a forged ILS cheque with your name on it! The opportunists behind these scams are stealing large amounts of money from gullible people and they tarnish the integrity of legitimate marketers of Government Lotteries.
If you have any doubt at all about the legitimacy of a lottery prize “win” you're mailed or emailed about, just email us at sales@irishlotto.net or sales@irishsubscription.net An ILS Representative will be very glad to assist you.
HOW TO AVOID FALLING
VICTIM TO A LOTTERY SCAM:
- Read the offer carefully. Most lottery scams have the same basic message: You have won a prize in a Lottery and must now send money to claim your winnings. Here are some common identifying characteristics of a scam:
- The email addresses provided are free hotmail or yahoo accounts, as these are easy to set up and difficult to trace. (Please note that an official notice from a legitimate company or service would NOT make use of a yahoo, hotmail or other free email account).
- They claim you were “selected through a computer ballot system,” where “your name and email address were attached to a winning Lottery ticket.”
- They usually mention a “claim agent,” “processing fees,” “insurance” or “bank fees”
- You're requested to “keep your winnings confidential until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account”
- You're warned that “any breach of confidentiality on your part will result in disqualification.”
- You're told that “the funds will be sent to you by a courier or security service” and that you have to pay the courier service for delivery and/or storage.
- Please bear in mind this one simple fact: you can't possibly have won a prize in a lottery you never ever entered in the first place. (As the old saying goes: if you receive an offer in the mail which sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!). So please do the following:
- Never send money to claim a prize in a Lottery you haven't entered. When you win a large Prize in a Lottery which you've legitimately entered through ILS, you'll be called and asked only how and where you want your full cash winnings to be sent. The actual prize remittance to the bank of your choice is a FREE SERVICE offered by ILS. You will never be asked to send money in the form of “processing fees” or “taxes” to claim your prize.
- Even if the scam does not ask for money right away, the perpetrators may use your contact and private information for future scams, so PLEASE DO NOT GIVE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.