Spain holds lottery scam suspects

Spanish police have arrested 87 Nigerians suspected of defrauding at least 1,500 people in a postal and internet lottery scam.

The arrests were made in and around Madrid in an operation co-ordinated with the FBI.

Police said millions of euros were taken from the victims, most of them in the United States and European Union.

Those targeted were wrongly told they had won a lottery and asked to send a payment before prize money could sent.

Thousands of letters and e-mails, most in ungrammatical English, were sent out to prospective victims every day, police said.

The faked documents asked them to make an initial payment of 900 euros ($1,400, £720) in taxes or administrative costs.

The scam is estimated to have netted around 20 million euros, but the actual sum could be many times that, say police.

Anglican bishop

Police said the number of those defrauded could run into many thousands, as most of them probably failed to report the crime out of embarrassment.

Police estimate that only one in 1,000 recipients of the letters needed to fall for the fraud for it to make a profit. An Anglican bishop was among those duped, according to Spanish officials.

The operation to track down the gang began in May 2007 when a huge number of identical letters destined for addresses in the US was discovered at Madrid's Barajas airport.

Police confiscated hundreds of computers, mobile phones and 60,000 letters in a raid on more than 30 homes and businesses.

Law enforcement officers also seized a suitcase full of fake $100 notes which they say was used to convince some victims who came to Spain in person to collect their "prize money".

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Spain holds lottery scam suspects

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"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

"A river does not run through a forest without bringing down trees".

Some peeps loving giving the image of their country a bad name.

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"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

"A river does not run through a forest without bringing down trees".

Yes indeed the fraudsters were wrong but who in the hell sends payments to an anonymous person after recieving a letter full of grammatical errors?

A fool that is who.

I cannot imagine being told I have won the lottery and then me sending out hundreds/thousands of pounds to secure that money... that is pure foolishness... makes me wanna start sending out letters... After all the publicity about 419 and people still fall for this crap... are they serious?!

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Na wa

Wow! Nigeria we hail thee!! Talk about giving our country a bad name!!

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To catch me you gotta be fast, To find me, you gotta be smart, To be me!!! Damn!!! U gotta be kidding!!!

S-M-I-L-E!! It makes ppl wonder wot U r up to!!

with all the bad grammar?!!! And alerts everywhere? people still fall for it?
Abeg, I shall start mailing them letters self, not using internet alone!! hisssss.

USELESS GREEDFY FOOLS!!


EVEN AN ANGLICAN BISHOP???? HABA!!

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It IS GOOD to patiently wait for the RIGHT TIME to collect what is due to you!
Dec 31st, 2008! When I get my $$$! And RETURN a favor too. I am sooo excited!

You're right.
And to think a bishop even fell for their tricks.

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"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

"A river does not run through a forest without bringing down trees".

Dude must have thought his moment of financial breakthrough has come.

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"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence."

"A river does not run through a forest without bringing down trees".

bwahahaha... If anything sounds too good to be true then it basically is... when will people learn this.

If someone calls you on the phone and tells you you have won a million despite you never entering anything then
IT IS A LIE

If someone tells you that you have won an oscar and you know your ass has never acted in a thing
IT IS A LIE

If you get told you are about to win a grammy and you have never even released a single
IT IS A LIE!

Jeez, and not to stereotype but Nigerians specifically are known for this style advance fee fraud so why would you let a Nigerian tell you to send them money? It makes no sense. A nigerian you don't even know? Nonsense. And I'm sure from the way the letters were written they could tell it weren't from no damn Spaniard, let alone a Spanaird from a reputable organisation...

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people travelling to Spain to collect suitcases of money? bwhahahaha! I have heard it all! Unless you are in a crime syndicate this is not how you collect money.

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How about the Police arresting the victims too for stupitity. Maybe the pple will stop for a moment to think before they fall for scams. It takes two.
The spaniards too where surppose to be Oba in this game. So they met their match.