Camelot warning over bogus lottery email

Oct 12 2008 by Mr Justice, Sunday Sun

LOTTERY operators Camelot have issued a warning after I alerted them to a new scam using their chief executive’s name.

They urged members of the public to be on their guard over emails purporting to come from Dianne Thompson.

The bogus emails claim recipients have won a considerable amount of money. But I can reveal that they have nothing to do with the official lottery operator.

One recipient — who did not want to be named — received notification that she had won £891,934.

She said: “It sounded genuine because it referred to Camelot many times.

“It said my email address was picked in a ballot held on October 6.

“I had to claim within nine days or my winnings would be lost. There were a few warning signs, so I decided to check them out with Mr Justice.”

That’s when I had to break the bad news after confirming Camelot had nothing to do with the email.

My reader added: “I won’t see a penny of my so-called winnings.

“I feel very angry that whoever is behind this should not be allowed to get away with it. There goes a lifestyle I could only dream about.”

Normally I would advise anyone who gets an unsolicited email claiming they have won anything to delete it immediately.

But this one was worth a second look because it contained a genuine address for Camelot’s regional office in Liverpool.

And it was given some weight by the use of Dianne Thompson’s name.

The real Dianne is the chief executive of Camelot, but she was referred to as online coordinator in the email.

Closer inspection revealed more cause for concern.

Winners were asked to contact their claims agent on a personal hotmail account instead of a corporate Camelot email address. And there were other clues.

Camelot do not run any ballots, do not alert winners in emails, and do not mention amounts.

Camelot thanked me for drawing the email to their attention.

A spokesman said: “This is not one I have seen before. It looks like a new variation on emails which claim to come from Camelot and other official lottery operators.

“I can assure you this is not a genuine email from us.

“The Liverpool address is one of our regional centres, and Dianne Thompson is our chief executive, but it has nothing to do with us.

“If the company can be identified as coming from this country we will liaise with the relevant authorities to stop them trading.

“If it comes from abroad there is not much we can do except warn people about it.”

I tried to ring the telephone numbers given to make further inquiries but they were unobtainable.

I left a message in the hotmail address but, at the time of writing, no one has responded.

Page 2: Camelot’s guide on how to spot a scam