Fraudulent use of the name and lotteries of ONCE

The Spanish National Organisation for the Blind (ONCE) informs hereby to the public in general about the existence of a fraud by criminal bands. These bands use the name and prestige of ONCE in countries of all continents. They do easily move around the world and use mobile phones, postal codes, fake and provisional addresses (using real addresses from Spanish official Bodies), and improperly use the names of prestigious institutions like ONCE, among others. They may also use fake letterheads of ONCE, signatures of their representatives, different banks and insurance companies on their communications. In order to commit such frauds, the procedure they use is to announce to the potential victim that he/she has been awarded a substantial prize (although the person has not participated in any draw whatsoever); however, in order to receive this "prize", the person has to pay in advance an amount of money supposedly assigned to pay taxes, bank expenses, shipment costs or insurance procedures, etc. Normally, the defrauder informs the potential victim that period to pay all that is really short and that the right to receive the prize is about to expire. Once the potential victim has paid, the swindle comes to light since the victim never receives the "supposedly" gained prize.

With regards to such fraud practices, it is necessary to inform that the draws organized by ONCE are regulated in the regulations of the different types of draws, which are public and can be checked in the Website JuegosONCE. For more security, the draws are broadcasted in Internet through the Website JuegosONCE.

It is also important to notice that in order to participate in any of the draws organized by ONCE, a ticket or share in a lottery must be purchased previously so that the person is able to gain the prize. Furthermore, the prizes only can be paid at ONCE centres or banks collaborating with ONCE.

In such situations, when a person is offered these type of "prizes" related with ONCE, it is highly recommended NOT TO PAY anything and not to provide any personal or bank details. Furthermore, we would be glad if such crimes were duly informed to the Spanish Police, who have already arrested and brought before Justice some of the members of these criminal bands committing crimes in Spain, and to the police of other countries when appropriate.