The "Richard and Debbie Nuttall" Team Scam

The Real Winners

• Identity: Richard and Debbie Nuttall, aged 54, are from Colne, Lancashire.
• Win: They won half of a £123 million jackpot while on holiday in Fuerteventura.
• Charity: They are official ambassadors for BK's Heroes, a charity supporting research into brain cancer and kidney disease.

The Scam

"Cruel scammers" have created fake social media profiles (often on Facebook) posing as the couple.

• The Tactic: Scammers send messages claiming to be Richard and Debbie, offering to share their wealth or provide "a helping hand" to people in financial difficulty.
• The Goal: These are advance-fee scams designed to extract personal information or money (such as "processing fees") from victims.
• Victim Example: One single mother in debt was targeted by a fake profile and "bared her soul" to scammers she believed were the real Nuttalls before realizing it was a fraud.

Red Flags

• Unsolicited Offers: Genuine lottery winners do not randomly contact strangers on social media to give away money.
• Verification: The real Richard and Debbie's story has been widely reported by major outlets like the BBC and The Independent.
• Action: If you are contacted by someone claiming to be them, do not provide personal details and report the profile to the platform.