Slough Borough Council’s trading standards team are warning residents over possible scams they may face this Christmas after being notified of postal cons.
The swindle starts when Slough residents receive mail saying they’ve won a lottery or prizes, despite the recipient never entering any prize draws.
Of course, these are never free and will always cost the person money to claim the so called prizes.
The Slough advice is, if you haven’t entered a lottery, you can’t win. It will be the recipient who ends up out of pocket as the scammers will make them pay an ever increasing amount of money in order to pay release fees, legal fees and so on.
The more people pay, the more is demanded and debts can pile up with no prospect of getting anything.
The lottery scams are well known and originate from places like Spain and Canada. Statements that people have won amounts of over half a million Euros are very common.
Prizes claimed to have been won include cars, TV’s and other high value electrical equipment. The reality is there is either no prize at all or one of very low value.
At times, the letters sent out look as though they’re from the UK, but the truth is that the address is only a forwarding one and the money is sent abroad, never to be seen again.
Slough Trading standards, along with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), are working hard to get these scam mailings stopped, and have created the Scamnesty campaign to be set up in the New Year.
Members of the public will be able to drop off any mailings they’ve received in special bins set up in the town. This information will be passed on to the OFT so that the matters can be taken up with the relevant foreign and UK authorities.
Commissioner for Slough community and leisure, Cllr Shafiq Chaudhry, said: “Residents should be on the alert when they receive mail about winning competitions they haven’t entered.
“Everyday people are being conned by unscrupulous individuals and have been left in considerable debt. If you receive any of these mailings, throw them in the bin and forget about them.”
Peter Adshead, senior trading standards officer for Slough Borough Council, added: “As Christmas is an expensive time for all of us, and with the financial climate as it stands, there are always those who like to prey on all of us.
“Our advice is not to part with any money. Never give out bank details and put the mail in the bin straight away. A lack of response is the best way to discourage these rogues. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Slough Borough Council
