Is this a scam?

zara*elise

The thing that stuck out to me was the fact they called him before the 'prize draw' winners were announced. It's like they were seeing who would answer the phone. Great, elderly man, can't quite remember what he entered but has entered competitions before therefore may have dementia/memory problems = perfect target. Then a few days later he 'wins'!

I bet if a younger person answered the phone and told them they had never entered such a competition they wouldn't have 'won'.

Get the name of the promoter of this competition and all details including telephone number and address of the company, and if necessary pass the details onto your local police and post on here.

Lozzzy

They finally hit us with the scam. He got a phone call this afternoon from the guy saying that due to the prize being such a large amount of money, the Government want 2% of the winnings. He then proceeded to say that he had managed to haggle it down to 1% so they are wanting a cheque for £2,100 to be sent to a 'solicitor' before he puts the cheque in the bank.

Thankfully we always had an incling that it was a scam so my grandad doesn't intend to send any money but is waiting for a call with a name and address of the so-called solicitor so that we can report it.

skiddlydiddly

I want them to haggle my PAYE with the govt too, sounds like they have kissed the blarney stone to get it halved.

Lozzzy

My grandad was given a London address to send the cheque to and was also given a number which was supposedly the Inland Revenue but it was a 020 number which according to google is a London code and obviously not the Inland Revenue.
He has passed everything onto the fraud department and they are dealing with it now.

My grandad told the guy that he knew it was a scam because his daughter had checked the inland revenue number he gave and it definitely wasn't a official office number. The guy got really angry and started swearing because apparently my grandad wasn't supposed to tell anyone, even family members. I didn't know the guy had said that at the beginning since my grandad forgot about that bit. Just hoping they leave my grandad alone now.

We've signed him up to the Telephone Perference Service now so at least we can complain if they call again from a British number

Thankyou again for all the help

hollydays

Did you report it to the Police?

southern_Comfort

Sounds like a scam to me. Before letting them in, ask for their phone number and if they are a business ask for their VAT number and company reg. I would take this to your local police station. If its legit then they have nothing to worry about. Protect your grandad as older people are getting scammed more and more these days. Time to put a stop to scammers.