Camelot issues warning over EuroMillions email scam

National Lottery operator Camelot has issued a warning for people to be on the lookout for email scammers claiming to be EuroMillion winners Adrian and Gillian Bayford.

Messages, claiming to be from the Bayfords, have been sent out to victims asking for bank details so that they can donate some of their £148m jackpot.

The email says Adrian and Gillian Bayford have decided to donate £800,000 to the recipient as part of their own charity project to improve the lives of "five unknown lucky individuals all over the world plus 10 close friends and family".

The email then asks for the recipient to providing their name, address and contact number so their details can be verified in England.

Richard Hudspith, who runs the Suffolk Music Centre in Queen Street, Haverhill, alongside Mr Bayford, said the scam came to his attention about two days ago.

He said: "I think we can safely say that’s complete rubbish that one."

A spokeswoman for Camelot, which operates the National Lottery, said: "We are aware that there are many organisations that attempt to obtain payment or personal details electronically from people under a variety of pretexts.

"The National Lottery, winners of The National Lottery and other lotteries are sometimes falsely used as part of these scams.

"We believe that some of these organisations are based overseas, often targeting people here in the UK.

"We would urge people to remember that, if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

"If any individual believes they are a victim of crime, they should contact their local police."


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Mr Bayford, 41, and his wife, 40, scooped the massive jackpot last week , the second largest in Britain, before fleeing to a campsite in Scotland to escape the spotlight.

The down-to earth Bayfords have already shown that the new-found wealth has not gone to their heads after being dubbed Britain's most modest lottery winners.

They celebrated being shot to 516th in the Sunday Times Rich List by having takeaway pizzas from Dominos.

Mr  Bayford has since revealed he has been inundated with begging letters from all over the world since scooping jackpot.

He said he was stunned after popping into his music shop to discover a mountain of letters with desperate pleas from people asking for money.

Astonishingly, some letters were even hand delivered by people from France and Germany.


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The modest multi-millionaire spoke as he returned to his shop for the first time since winning the jackpot in an attempt to return to "some sort of normality".

He said: "There are letters here from all over the world, but you can't help everyone. There have even been people coming over from France and Germany to deliver letters in person.

"We have some ideas of people we would like to help, but we have not made any decisions yet."

He also confirmed that he plans to stay in Haverhill, Suffolk, but that special "security" arrangements will need to be made to protect their two children - Cameron, four, and Aimee, six.