The fraudsters try to entice their victims by sending out emails that state they have been chosen for a share of an £800,000 fund provided by Bayford and her husband, Adrian. The email then informs the recipient they will be required to pay a £110 transaction fee before the funds can be released.
The Bayfords won an impressive £148 million EuroMillions jackpot in 2012, but the couple announced their separation in 2013. The online rogues are obviously unaware of this fairly recent turn of events because Mr. Bayford's name is still included in the bogus mailing.
A police source stated, "This is an unusual scam, carried out by people who obviously don’t read newspapers and who don’t know that Gillian and Adrian have gone their separate ways." He then urged anyone who receives such an email to contact the police. "It's important we put a stop to it," he said.
Bayford is not the only lottery millionaire to have her name used in this way. Frauds like this are becoming increasingly common.
Last year Margaret Loughrey won a EuroMillions jackpot of £27 million and announced she would spread the money around and help people. In no time at all fraudsters were using her name in an email designed to facilitate identity theft by encouraging the recipient to part with personal information in order to secure the release of a fictional £1 million gift.
