There are affiliate links on this page.
Read our disclosure policy to learn more.

Scams in Ireland: How to Recognize scams, con men, fake Irish Lottery emails and more

Scams and Frauds in the Ireland - How to Recognize Them and What To Do If You Receive One

"Congratulations!
You may receive a certified check for CASH!
One Lump sum! Tax free! Your odds to WIN are 1-6."

"Hundreds win every week using our secret system!
You can win as much as you want!"

Sound great? It's a fraud.

Scam operators - often based in the Netherlands, Canada and Nigeria- are using the telephone and direct mail to entice Irish (and other global) consumers to buy chances in high-stakes foreign lotteries from as far away as Australia and America.

Lotteries are a special target of the scammers. There is only one legal national lottery in Ireland, the Irish National Lottery. "The Irish Lottery" is a separate, private lottery, which is also the subject of many scams. See this page for more information about Irish Lottery scams and real examples of scam emails.

How to recognise a scam - is it too good to be true?

A scam is when people con you out of your cash. There are hundreds of types of scams - fake lotteries and prize draws, incredible schemes to make money quickly, fake investment plans, work from home schemes the list goes on and on.

Download UK leaflet How to recognise a scam (pdf 411 kb)
Download UK poster (pdf 220 kb)

The people who run these scams are clever and sophisticated and they know how to persuade us to part with our cash.

Most scams have some things in common - check out this list and help yourself to be on guard against scammers

Examples of Irish Lottery Scam Emails:

See these pages for actual scam emails received. All are very similar, so we've identified them by some of the names and locations they claim to be from:

Maureen Fred (Mrs)., Braint Clark, Mr. Dustin Menny, PEGASUS COURIER SERVICES
Online Winners of The Irish National Lottery programme, Deborah Clark, David Adams
"The Irish National Lottery, Dr. Mark Robert
The Irish National Lottery - Meg Stone (Mrs.), Mr Bill Karl
The Irish Lottery, from "Vivian Ray" and "Mr. McConell Simpson"
From "Dr Bebhinn Morgan" in CROYDON, DUBLIN with "Congratulations once more, and keep trusting"
YAHOO AWARDS & WINDOWS LIVE - "Dr. (Mrs.) Edith Barth", "Agent Mac Dowlling for your YAHOO/WINDOWS2007/2008/AWARD"
IRISH NATIONAL LOTTERY TEAM, Dr. Mark Meara
From Dr. Bebhinn Morgan or Dr Babhinn Morgan in DOREST, DUBLIN. (we guess he moved.. and can't spell his own name!)
From "Tony Brown" at "The Irish Lottery" with a "Reverend Clerk Phillips" as the "Online Coordinator", in Sligo, Ireland
From "Mr. Larry White" and "Sir.Cooker Johnson" in Dublin 1, Ireland
From "Sir Alan Clarkson" and "Mrs. Leila Green"
The Irish National Lottery, EURO MILLIONS PROMO/PRIZE DEPARTMENT, Dr. Mark Meara
The Irish National Lottery - MRS. GLORIA TESLA, Sir. kolyn parkins
The Irish National Lottery - "online Sweepstakes International program" - Dolly Richards(Mrs), MR ANDREW SPENCER

THE CON

How scam artists succeed - they will:

catch you unawares, contacting you, without you asking them to, by phone, email, post or sometimes in person
sound pleasant, well spoken and kind (on the phone or at your door) and want you to think they're your friend
have slick, professional leaflets and letters
be persistent and persuasive
rush you into making a decision
ask you to send money before you receive their tempting offer or win.

New scams from Ireland and overseas appear every day - so it's important to know how to spot them.

THE PITCH

They offer you something for nothing - such as:

you've won a prize in a draw or a lottery (even though you haven't entered one)
an exclusive entry to a scheme that's a surefire way to make money
a way to earn easy money by helping them get untold millions out of their country
the chance to join an investment scheme that will make you huge amounts of money; and so on.

There are hundreds of examples but we can all protect ourselves by being skeptical. Is it likely that someone you don't know, who has contacted you out of the blue, will give you something for nothing?

THE STING

They'll ask you to:

send money up front − an administration fee or tax, the list is endless but its always a ruse to get you to give them money
give them your bank details or other personal details
ring a premium rate number (all UK premium rate numbers start with 090)
buy something to get your prize.

They will lie to you and give you what seem to be good reasons why you should do what they say. They will answer all your objections.

Don't send any money or give any personal details to anyone until you've checked them out and talked to a professional or family and friends.
If they ask you to do any of these things they're trying to cover their tracks and get your money and it's likely to be a scam.