Phone scam is blown apart by police
The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has been at the heart of a recent operation which blew open a prize draw scam in the UK. It would appear that in excess of 20,000 victims were duped into sending £20 each to receive details of a £2 million sweepstake win. The fact that the victims had never even entered any such draw appears to have had little impact with police finding around £500,000 on premises in Radstock, Somerset.
As a consequence police are today posting cheques for £20 to many of the unlucky victims after confiscating the funds discovered. While there was around £500,000 on the premises the police believe that if the scam had not been blown apart in its early days it could have netted around £35 million year. This is a sharp reminder, in these troubled times, that fraudsters and scams are on the increase and we all need to be very aware of what we apply for and any "unsolicited mail" which requests payment before results.
While the financial markets have been cleaned up over the last 20 years or so, there are still a number of fraudsters operating on a global basis. The Internet, while on the whole very beneficial to everyday life, has also opened up new doors for many of these scam artists allowing them to enter our homes and contact us directly. Unsolicited mail should always be ignored and under no circumstances should you visit recommended sites.
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