The Netherlands gaming control board has issued warnings against lottery scams that operate under a large variety of different names, such as Lotto Promo Lottery, International Promo BV, Netherlotto, International Lotto Programs, Dayzers Promo Lottery, etcetera, etcetera. By e-mail you may receive a so-called lottery winnings notification and you are informed that you have won a big prize of millions of euros or dollars in a free prize draw.

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These so-called promotional lotteries have in common that a handling fee of up to a few thousand euros or dollars must be paid to an intermediary (a so-called claims agent), before the winnings can be paid out. Most people realise that bona fide lotteries do not operate this way and that such offers are too good to be true. But unfortunately some people are tricked and pay the fee.

Please be advised that all names, addresses, and references to official entities and regulations of these so-called promotional lotteries are fake. The Netherlands’ gaming control board has asked the competent police authorities in the Netherlands to investigate into these cases. The chances of legal action however seem to be limited, as the organisations behind these schemes do not originate in the Netherlands, but most probably in West Africa.

For more information on lottery scams see the website of the World Lottery Association:  www.world-lotteries.org

The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Damascus strongly advises Syrian citizens and residents against accepting promises made via electronic mail, by so called companies in the Netherlands under the name of inter alia Sprint Securities, Eurolite,Global Lottery Agency and Sunsweetwin Promo Lottery which offer large sums of money to lottery and prize winners upon downpayment of a fee to cover handling and other charges. The sole purpose of these companies is to extract money from innocent respondents.