8 Lucky Stars

IN the week that the prize-winning money in the lotto reached record levels, one Northside (Dublin) pensioner thought he had hit his own jackpot.
Ciaran Boland (79), from Seabury, Malahide, visited the National Lottery headquarters in the city centre last Monday week (July 23) believing he may have had the winning ticket to a near €800,000 fortune in his hand.
Ciaran had received the ‘prize’ in his post that morning, stating that he was the lucky winner of €785,510 in an international promotions lottery.
However, the supposed lottery does not actually exist and is part of an intricate scam by fraudsters hoping to gain access to people’s bank account details.
Speaking to Northside People, Ciaran said he always believed his prize-winning money didn’t exist, but, at the back of his mind, he just had to find out for sure.
“That is why I went into the National Lottery, because even if there was only a one in a thousand chance that I had won this money, I needed to know,� he stated.
“But it did always seem like it was too good to be true.�
When Ciaran produced his winning ticket to the National Lottery, an official advised him that it was a scam.
“They told me that I would be best off if I told the gardai about it,� he said.
“Naturally I was disappointed because you do begin to think that there is just maybe a slight chance you have won the money.�

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