Scratch ticket lottery scam

Interesting article from one of the daily newspapers goes onto say

Lottery scratch ticket con.

Two Western Australian women have lost over 3,500 dollars each in relation to an elaborate lottery scratch ticket scam. The office for Consumer Protection had between 60 and 70 phone calls last month because of the travel brochure produced overseas that included two lottery scratch cards.
The promotion was apparently part of a 30 year anniversary for the overseas company that is based overseas, the bogus EverMas Tourism Group.
Investigations revealed the website of the company was registered only in July of this year.
The two women had wired 3,700 dollars each to an address in Malaysia. They were led to believe the money to be used for processing the 146 thousand dollar prize.
Investigators told the women there is no chance of recovering their wired money transfer.
Another five supposed winners of second prize have reported the scam claiming serial numbers on their scratch tickets are identical.
The 180 thousand dollar first prize had 4 winners when only one top prize was apparently available.
Investigations are now in full swing to trace the scammers after a similar scheme was noticed operating in Eastern Australia.

mod edit: Split from topic on email scams supposedly from Australian lottery -Jillian

I've received an email from a reader regarding this scam, operating under the name of Evermas Tourism.

A portion of that email:

I am writing to make you aware of a scam company called Evermas tourism group, Many people have received brochure with two scratchies inclosed one with a thank you and the other claiming you have won $130.000 USD. And since we have found that 10 others have won, when there are only two tickets of $130.000 USD to be won.
They say to be able to claim this prize you have to provide personal details on request.

I have done a bit of research and have found a press release from the Australian goverment warning of this scam: http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerP ... ollars.pdf

1 September 2010
Thousands of dollars lost in travel scratchie scam
An elaborate scratch card scam, involving a bogus travel company, has led to at least two
Western Australians losing a total of $7,400 over the last week.
During August Consumer Protection received almost 70 phone calls from people who have
received an eight page glossy brochure and two lottery scratch cards produced by overseasbased
EverMAS Tourism Group.
The prizes are said to be on offer as part of a celebration of the company’s 30 year
anniversary however WA ScamNet’s investigation has found that the EverMAS Tourism
Group website was only registered in July 2010.
Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll said unfortunately WA ScamNet had
already heard from victims.
“Two separate women sent about $3,700 each via wire transfer to a Malaysian address
because they believed the money would be used to process payment of a huge cash prize of
US$130,000,” she said.
“The problem is we have at least another five supposed winners of that second prize who
have come forward to report the scam and it seems the serial numbers on their scratch cards
are all identical. Interestingly we already have four reported winners of the first prize of
US$180,000 when only one top prize was supposedly available.”
The Commissioner said consumers were not just at risk of losing money.
“The ‘winners’ are asked to provide copies of their passport, birth certificate and driver’s
licence. This sharing of secure personal details puts you at risk of identity theft.
“This adds to the unfortunate reality that anyone who sends thousands of dollars to Malaysia
as requested will not get a prize in return and because wire transfers are untraceable they will
have lost their money. Please warn your friends and family to prevent anyone else being
scammed.”
WA ScamNet is working with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to try to
track down the scammers behind these letters, scratchies and the associated website. A
similar version has been seen over East under the name www.aviatstravel.com
Both are believed to be duplicates of the Euphoria Travelling Group and Malaysia Starize
Travelling Group scams which led to public warnings earlier this year and in 2009 respectively.
Government of Western Australia
Anyone who wishes to report receiving a scam through the post can do so by calling
Consumer Protection’s general advice line on 1300 30 40 54. There is a list of scams affecting
WA and advice on the WA ScamNet website www.commerce.wa.gov.au/wascamnet

If anyone has received this scam, please report it.

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Domain Name: EVERMASTOURISM.COM
Created on: 17-Jul-10
Expires on: 17-Jul-11
Last Updated on: 17-Jul-10

A recent daily newspaper article during the past week reports

Tue 05 Oct 2010

Perth mother caught in $50,000 Malaysian scratchie scam

A PERTH mother of three has lost more than $50,000 in a Malaysian scratchies scam.
Working with Consumer Protection, Australia Post intercepted 5000 scam letters with fake scratchie cards and travel brochures.
Consumer Protection says the mother wire-transferred money to scammers posing as a Malaysian organisation called EverMAS Tourism Group.
In August, two other Western Australian women lost about $3700 each.
A further three people have told WA ScamNet they had been in touch with the scammers but stopped contact after hearing about the con through the media.