Beware the foreign-lottery scammers, Islanders warned

David Evans, deputy chief executive officer of the Jersey Gambling Commission, urged players to read the terms and conditions and know exactly what they were getting into before they parted with any money.

Recently an advertorial has appeared online claiming in its headline that ‘Jersey residents can finally bet on EuroMillions!’.

The EuroMillions and the UK National Lottery, which have jackpots worth millions of pounds, are only accessible to UK residents or people who are in the UK at the time when they play the lottery.

The latest deal is being offered by WorldLotteryClub.com. Instead of buying tickets for the actual draw, players pick numbers and ‘bet’ against the company that those numbers will come up. If they do, a punter wins a cash amount equal to the jackpot offered in the lottery – minus taxes. The company takes out insurance so it is able to pay players if they win big.

The WorldLotteryClub is regulated by the UK Gambling Commission and the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission.

However, Mr Evans said there are other organisations that are less trustworthy which purport to offer Channel Islanders access to the national and European lotteries.

Some firms offer to buy tickets on behalf of Islanders but Mr Evans said there is no guarantee they will not just run off with the prize money. He also warned of scam lotteries.

‘Read the terms and conditions, ask the right questions, make sure if you’re purchasing a lotto ticket in participating countries outside of the Isle of Man and the UK that the lottery is open to non-residents. Also, be wary of scams, if you can’t remember entering a lottery then you probably didn’t, and being asked to pay up front to claim a prize is usually a method employed by fraudsters,’ he said.

Mr Evans urged Islanders to steer clear of any offers where an agent purchases tickets on behalf of third parties outside of those territories.

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