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My father has been scammed of his life savings

13

Comments

  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,410 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You and your father should be able to call the Lottery Centre to establish that this is the business that called him and took the money off him. With that confirmed, you could contact the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission to discuss the issue.
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    sheramber wrote: »
    Yes, there is
    https://www.thelotterycentre.com/en/home/about/

    Write directly to the CEO and ask whether she thinks your father has been treated fairly by her team of individuals "who truly care" about their customers..
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Thank you
    I am in the process of doing this
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,410 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Another avenue to investigate is that given the amount your father spent on Irish Lottery tickets, where are his winnings? Just based on the laws of chance, he should have won something and been paid it. It raises the question as to whether the lottery centre bought any tickets in his name, or did they just trouser the cash?
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 23,214 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    he was then contacted by an account manager asking him if he wanted to join more syndicates for varying amounts of money

    Not all to Irish Lottery. There are 14 lotteries advertised on their site.
  • Silvertabby
    Silvertabby Posts: 10,347 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 28 July 2019 at 12:42PM
    tacpot12 wrote: »
    Another avenue to investigate is that given the amount your father spent on Irish Lottery tickets, where are his winnings? Just based on the laws of chance, he should have won something and been paid it. It raises the question as to whether the lottery centre bought any tickets in his name, or did they just trouser the cash?


    Beat me to it. If he really did pay £25K to the legitimate (for want of a better word) lottery, then he must have some winnings?


    ADD: OP - just a thought, but if this is a scam instead of the Lottery just acting like scammers, then your father could be on a 'gullible' list. Please make him aware that if anyone rings him offering to help - for payment up front - then he should put the phone down.
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 21,544 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    sheramber wrote: »
    Yes, there is
    https://www.thelotterycentre.com/en/home/about/

    The fact that they have a website does not mean they actually exist or even if the CEO is actually a real person. Anyone can set up a post box in the Isle of Man and they are not a registered company in the UK or IoM.

    The website claims that they are regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision, but they don’t appear on the register of licensed companies, so it looks like a fake company to me.
  • barbarawright
    barbarawright Posts: 1,846 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I'm not sure the OP will be able to act on her father's behalf that easily. GDPR may well mean that the company doesn't have to deal with her and indeed can't deal with her...
  • Grumpelstiltskin
    Grumpelstiltskin Posts: 5,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The parent company is registered on the Isle of Man.

    https://opencorporates.com/companies/im/128308C
    If you go down to the woods today you better not go alone.
  • sheramber
    sheramber Posts: 23,214 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    Keep_pedalling wrote: »
    The fact that they have a website does not mean they actually exist or even if the CEO is actually a real person. Anyone can set up a post box in the Isle of Man and they are not a registered company in the UK or IoM.

    The website claims that they are regulated by the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision, but they don’t appear on the register of licensed companies, so it looks like a fake company to me.

    https://secure.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PublicRegister/Search/Detail/39526
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