The National Lottery Authority (NLA) in collaboration with the Volta Regional Police Command, has arrested four lotto fraudsters in the Volta Region.
The alleged lotto fraudsters are Godwin Agbenyefia alias Demon aged 19, Reuben Abusah alias Last Burial aged 20, Kelvin Kwame Abouzi alias Kartel aged 20 and Kingsley Adelekey aged 21.
The accused persons were operating from Akatsi and Ho in the Volta Region.
The Circuit Court in Ho presided over by His Honour, Felix Datsomor has remanded the suspects in police custody to re-appear on September 23, 2020.
The lotto fraudsters have created several Facebook accounts, Whatsapp platforms and other social media platforms, using the logo and pictures of the Staff of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and sometimes pictures of other people to defraud the unsuspecting public.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Unity of NLA said “It is very sad that these lotto fraudsters are able to convince people who want to be rich overnight to make mobile money transfers to them in exchange for fake winning lotto numbers.
“The lotto fraudsters receive various sums of money from their victims in order to stake lotto numbers for them. After the Draw of the lotto numbers by the National Lottery Authority (NLA), the Lotto Fraudsters send photographs of FAKE Winning Coupons (Prize) to their victims suggesting that they have won lotto.
“The lotto fraudsters then demand 20-40% of the amount of money they claim the victims had won before NLA would pay their winning tickets. Subsequently, after the victims pay the lotto fraudsters with the percentage of the fake winning prize, the fraudsters then quickly block the phone calls of their victims and vanish.
“Sometimes, the lotto fraudsters manage to convince their victims to send money for Registration to qualify for the leaked winning numbers”.
The statement added that “The National Lottery Authority (NLA) would like to state categorically that, NLA has NOT designed any Registration Forms for the public to register for winning lotto numbers.
It said the Lotto Draws are conducted in an open and transparent manner and the Draw is open to the general public for witnessing daily, except Sundays and public holidays.
“It is absolutely false that people and staff of the Authority have access to winning lotto numbers.
“The National Lottery Authority (NLA) would like to commend the Volta Regional Police Headquarters for a successful operation. The Authority shall continue to collaborate with the Police and other relevant security agencies to arrest the Lotto Fraudsters across the Country,” the statement said.
It however cautioned that it is the responsibility of the public to be more vigilant and discontinue engaging the services of the lotto fraudsters.
“Lotto is a game of chance and it is impossible to foretell winning numbers before Draws”, the statement concluded.
