Wexford TD Dr Liam Twomey has just won €2.8 million on a Spanish lottery, or so he has been informed.
But he is not celebrating. Instead, he is warning people of the scam, which is aimed at people giving out their bank account details.
The letter he received from Madrid informed him that he drew the lucky numbers in a lottery in February.
The money, the letter states, was deposited in the security company of La Primitiva Lotería y Apeustas. However, it advises that "due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep this award from public notice until your claim has been processed and money remitted to your account". This, it states, is part of its security protocol.
The letter also says that 10 per cent of the winnings belong to Catalona Promotion Company which, supposedly, bought the ticket and played the lottery with the recipient's name.
A lengthy "payment processing form" is included that seeks personal information including bank account numbers and details of next of kin.
This form was to be returned to Global Promotion, Leasing Commission Agent, in order for the "winnings" to be claimed.
Dr Twomey said yesterday that nobody knew how these companies obtained the names and addresses of people or from what lists. He said there had been various scams like the Nigerian one involving an "advance-fee".
Many people in Ireland had been approached and some had fallen for the con. "People who give their account numbers can have their accounts fleeced. It is a new version of an old scam," Dr Twomey warned.
A Garda spokesman said there were thousands of those type of letters, and e-mails, coming from different countries.
"Don't even reply and certainly don't give any personal details," he advised.
If these letters originated in the State, then they would be investigated, he said.