Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.

The "Richard and Debbie Nuttall" Team Scam
The Richard and Debbie Nuttall Team Scam

Richard and Debbie Nuttall are genuine EuroMillions lottery winners who scooped a £61.7 million jackpot in January 2024. However, their names have since been used by scammers to target vulnerable people. The scam refers to a fraudulent scheme where impersonators pose as the real-life £61 million EuroMillions winners to trick people into giving away money or personal details.

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.
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