§ Lord Hoyleasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many examples they have received of bogus or fraudulent national lottery schemes; and what action they have taken to investigate them and bring the people responsible to justice. [HL839]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The Office of Fair Trading, which investigates these cases, received nearly 2,000 complaints and queries about lottery scams based in other countries in 2004. The investigation of these scams is undertaken by the appropriate enforcement agency.
DTI is taking action through Consumer Direct, a consumer helpline and website which is currently being rolled out nationwide and provides advice for consumers about these kinds of scams.
DTI also helps to facilitate global co-operation against these scams. Since 2001, DTI has signed memorandums of understanding with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This department is also a signatory to the OECD Guidelines for Protecting Consumers from Fraudulent and Deceptive Commercial Practices across Borders, a multilateral co-operation agreement, and last year, negotiated the EU Regulation on Consumer Protection Co-operation which sets an enforcement co-operation framework within the EU.