Urmston woman called by prize draw scam victims

A Greater Manchester woman whose work phone number has been given out as an Australian prize claim line is urging people not to fall for the scam.

Vikkie McGlinchey receives at least one message a week from people, most of them elderly, asking if she has received their cheque payments.

Although she calls back those who have left numbers, she believes many more are falling victim to the scam.

Mrs McGlinchey, who works in Urmston, said: "It can be quite distressing."

The company she works for sells granite and natural stone products, and has nothing to do with lottery draws.

But at least once a week Mrs McGlinchey says she arrives in the office to find a voicemail from people thinking they are calling the organisers of an Australian prize draw.

'Thousands of victims'

One week she said she found five messages from just one elderly lady asking for confirmation that a cheque had been received.

"It can be quite distressing sometimes because they tend to be more from the elderly people that are ringing up," said Mrs McGlinchey.

"I just think it's so unfair that these people are falling for this line."

Mrs McGlinchey regularly calls people who leave a phone number and said she had "begged" some not to send any more money.

"I'd just like to try and warn people not to do it in the first place, because for every five or six calls I get there must be thousands of people actually sending the money," she added.