Lottery letter designed to con older people

Put yourself in the position of an older person, someone in their eighties or nineties. Perhaps you live on your own, and even though you were brought up in a time when people routinely wrote letters to each other, you probably do not get much in the way of mail these days. And like so many others of your age group, you are trusting.

A letter pops through your front door, marked "confirmed unique winner”. Even more vitally, in a big typeface in capitals, the envelope says “Reply Compulsory”.

You know that it can't be junk mail because you signed up years ago for the Mail Preference Service, which ensures that you never receive anything that is unwanted or harmful.

Or at least it should do, for the missive you have just received is an attempt to persuade you that you have a cheque for £15,500 waiting in your name. The letter addresses you as “Dear Winner”, telling you to return the “official documents” to claim your prize.

All you have to do is return the money claim form within ten days.

There's a scratch panel (which shows the same amount), plus the assurance that the cheque has been deposited in a safe place. But if you don't reply within the set time, your cheque will be destroyed for good.

Or at least that is what it seems to say.

Hidden in the small print

But if you read everything very carefully, then it is obvious that you are not going to win this cash. For, if you were less trusting and worked your way through the small print – and this is very small, with long sentences designed to confuse – you would immediately throw it into the recycling bin.

This is one of those lotteries where the winning number has already been assigned, which means it may never have to be paid. There's a rule in the small print which states that if the number allocated for the big prize is not claimed, it could just go back to the promoter and be used for a subsequent prize. 

[SPOTLIGHT]More small print says: “The fact that you have this logically attractive promotional prize draw in your name proves that you have been entered into a pre-draw under the control of an independent supervisor.” That's not even comprehensible to a lawyer.

Various parts of the letter have signatures. But don't bother trying to decipher them. The rules state the names of the staff members used are pen names, "chosen to enable your letters and phone calls to be handled smoothly". I can understand why you would not want to admit to any involvement with this, but why does anonymity makes everything run better?

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How the scam really works

There are “second prizes” awarded to all those who fail to win the £15,500. You get a £1 voucher to use against an order from an attached catalogue.

Surprisingly, at the end of all this, the senders don't ask recipients to send cheques for the chance to win the £15,500. This is not a Nigerian-style scam. Instead, to make the whole thing 'legitimate' it sells goods of uncertain value and use through the catalogue. The idea is to use the supposed lottery as a way to push older people into spending good money on overpriced tat.

The main items on sale are “natural, herbal” remedies. One expensive cure, designed to prevent incontinence, contains "hamamelis powder", also known as witch hazel bark. Another boasts “organic silica” which, apparently, does a wonder with wrinkles. There are also “miracle” household cleaning chemicals at prices well in excess of local shops.

This whole tawdry thing, designed to confuse, comes from a post box number in France linked to an address in Antwerp, Belgium. It should never have been allowed to cross the Channel.

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