Advanced-fee fraud warning

City of London Police is reminding the public of the dangers of advanced-fee fraud.

The message comes after officers learnt fraudsters have used the force’s name to suggest that a lottery scam was legitimate.

An email claiming to be from ‘Constable John Bruce’ ‘guaranteed’ the competition, and asked for the recipient to confirm their contact details. Detectives believe the fraudster’s next step would be to ask for an admin fee to process the prize.

An outdated City of London Police logo and address are used in a bid to make the e-mail seem genuine. 

Det Supt Crampton, from the City of London Police Economic Crime Unit, said:

“The City of London Police does not endorse lotteries or similar initiatives and would not engage in facilitating distribution of such ‘prizes’.  Should such correspondence be received treat with extreme caution and forward to the National Fraud Desk for our attention”.

If you have responded to such correspondence received, have lost money or believe yourself to be a victim of an advance fee fraud then please contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

Find out more about advanced-fee fraud (external link)

NFIB Advice

• Treat unsolicited communication (e-mail, phone & letters) that offer financial gain with extreme suspicion
• Lotteries should not ask for a fee to release your winnings
• Never pay an advance fee
• Do not provide any banking details
• Contact the organisation named using independently sourced contact details, not the details they have supplied to you
• Fraudsters will impersonate large organisation such as banks, government departments or the police in an attempt to give credibility to their scam