The ICC warned fans against scams claiming to be associated with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 (CWC19).
It was reported that previous major sporting events have also been targeted in this way. Illegal scammers contact people, usually via email, claiming that they have won a cash prize via a lottery or competition and requiring the person to share a range of personal information, including their name, age, bank account and passport details. The victim is often asked to pay a fee to obtain the prize money.
The Council advised that:
- Never respond to any such communication. If you haven’t entered a lottery then you can’t have won it.
- We don’t know of any official lottery operators who ask for fees to collect winnings. Any request for a fee payment is a good indication that someone is trying to defraud you.
- Never, ever disclose your bank details or pay fees in advance.
- If an email address has been provided to respond to, be very suspicious of addresses such as @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com or numbers beginning with 07 because these are free to get hold of.
- Genuine lotteries thrive on publicity. If they ask you to keep your win a secret, it’s likely to be a fraud.
- Many fraudulent lotteries have bad spelling and grammar – see this as a warning that fraudsters are at work.