Advertisement

‘I was stupid’: Single mum falls for $225 million lottery scam

A single mum is thousands of dollars out of pocket after falling for a conman’s sob story and false promises of a slice of a multi-million-dollar jackpot win.

The unidentified mother, from Birmingham in the UK, handed over £5000 (A$9165) in several instalments to the scammer, who had convinced her that he was a recent winner of a $225m Euromilions jackpot.

“I wasn’t naive, I was stupid,” she told the Sunday Mercury. “In this day and age, I find it really hard not to help people. That’s my downfall – I’m still in the 1980s.”

The conman first met the 44-year-old victim on June 13 at her place of work, where he approached her with a fake lottery ticket and asked to use her phone to confirm the win with the lotto agency, the Mercury reports.

Claiming his English was poor, he dialled the number and handed the phone to the victim, who spoke to a woman who ‘confirmed’ that the gambler had won $225m.

A person fills out a Euromillions lottery form.
The man claimed he had won $225 million through the Euromillions lottery. Source: Getty/File

Over several conversations with the victim, the scam artist told her his mother needed money urgently for open heart surgery in Pakistan and he couldn’t wait for his newfound wealth to arrive in his account.

Falling for his tears, the victim agreed to lend him $9000 and was promised to be reimbursed $900,000 for her kindness.

The mum met up with the man at a McDonald’s restaurant to hand over the last portion of her loan. She brought her brother along, who admitted that alarm bells were ringing in his head.

“He was very smooth, very plausible,” he told the Mercury. “Half the time, he was in tears... ’I can’t believe what you guys have done’ he told us. ‘I don’t even know you guys, and you’ve done this for me when my own friends won’t give me a tenner’.

“Yes, I smelled a rat, but, by then, my sister was in too deep.”

Realisation only hit for the duped woman on June 18, when she arrived at the Royal Bank of Scotland to meet with the conman to get her reward.

Just 10 minutes before their meeting, the man’s phone ‘died’.

A man holds a Euromillions ticket in front of a newsagency counter.
The woman believed she would be repaid almost $1m, but at the last minute the scammer failed to meet her. Source: Getty/File

The mum said she was “convinced up to the last seconds” that he was genuine, and says the scam has changed the way she looks at strangers.

“I don’t think I could help someone now. I now look on anyone as possible scumbags. This has knocked me out, this has turned my house upside down.”

While the conman hasn’t been located by authorities, the victim’s brother did manage to get a copy of his driver’s licence during their meeting at McDonald’s.

Even if the name and address are false, the photo on the ID was real and has been handed over to investigators.

In a statement, a spokesperson from Camelot lotteries reminded the public that scams are a regular occurrence and “if something looks too good to be true, it probably is”.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, download the Yahoo News app from iTunes or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.