Consumer Protection and Scamwatch have issued a warning over an unlicensed online betting scheme, Lotto Spring.
The West Australian newspaper published an advertisement for the website on April 20, which brought it to the attention of West Australian authorities.
The scheme, which is based in the British Virgin Islands, is also promoted online, including via a Facebook page specifically targeting Australians.
Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard said the scheme is not licensed in Australia, which represents potential issues for consumers here.
“Lotto Spring began in November 2015 and the website operator is offshore-based (British Virgin Islands and Curaçao),” Mr Hillyard said.
“Importantly, subscribers are not entering a lottery. They are betting on the outcome of other lotteries, such as the EuroMillions draw.
“However, Lotto Spring does not have the required Australian licence for this sort of gambling,” he said.
As the scheme is not licensed within Australia, people who bet with Lotto Spring are not protected by Australian consumer laws, and are more liable to be taxed heavily due to overseas payouts.
Mr Hillyard said WA ScamNet and Consumer Protection has been contacted by at least one consumer who reported unauthorised deductions from her bank account after signing up to Lotto Spring online.
She struggled to resolve this because the organisation is overseas.
“The lady subscribed to Lotto Spring online. Subscriptions are either €33 or €66 a month but she was charged twice in a month, 10 days apart,” Mr Hillyard said.
“One payment was $67 and the other was $78 and working on currency conversion rates neither of these matches up with a €33 or €66 charge. She has been advised to seek charge backs from her financial institution.”
Lotterywest echoed the warning with CEO Paul Andrew encouraging local lotto game players to make well-informed choices when entering into various services being offered.
“Some of the new ‘lotteries’ being offered are national or international ‘betting’ operations with little or no proceeds returned to the WA community,” Mr Andrew said.
“When playing Lotterywest Games consumers can be confident they have participated in a lottery conducted by an authorised government entity with integrity, which returns the proceeds of prize pools to winning players and also directly benefits the WA community through a grants program.
“Last year more than 1,000 Lotterywest grants were given to WA community organisations and statutory allocations made to health, sports and arts were in excess of $283 million.”
Consumers who wish to report potential scams can do so at the Department of Commerce’s Scamnet website, scamnet.wa.gov.au
