Minister for Tourism and Fair Trading
The Honourable Peter Lawlor
01/04/2010
Don't get April Fooled by scammers
This April Fool's Day, Fair Trading is warning Queenslanders not to be fooled by scammers who send letters promising pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor said chain letters - illegal in Queensland - were a recurring con that gave false guarantees of bucket loads of money for little effort.
"The pot at the end of the rainbow is fool's gold," Mr Lawlor said.
"The reality is you end up paying fraudsters for access to their supposed wisdom or their dodgy get-rich-quick scheme.
"Instead of pocketing tens of thousands of dollars, you could be fined for your involvement because chain letters are a type of illegal pyramid scheme."
Mr Lawlor said one classic chain letter that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) continued to hear about claimed to come from a Perth man called David Rhodes.
"'David Rhodes' tells his story of being down on his luck and in debt before receiving a letter about how to make a huge amount of money, which he dismissed at first but then decided to give a try.
"Lo and behold, after outlaying $190 and posting some letters he received $78,000 in 60 days.
"He goes on to tell how his family went on a cruise, bought a flash car and built a big house and has now earned more than a million dollars."
The letter - which often has a five-cent piece stuck to it - encourages you to get a slice of the wealth by sending $10 to the person at the top of the chain letter list, adding your name and address to the bottom, then resending the letter to 200 people.
Other types of letters also make false promises of wealth.
Mr Lawlor said Queenslanders had received mail from clairvoyant Marie Callas, who claims to have aristocratic heritage and to have started wowing locals in her French village at a young age with her psychic super powers.
"In her long-winded letter, she says she's studied your stars and that you will soon wi n an 'absolutely vast amount of money' and that you must act fast to get 94 days of 'almost uninterrupted luck!'
"Ms Callas guarantees happiness and wealth if you fill out her 'Urgent Answer Form for A Rich and Happy Life' to order her 'Grand Clairvoyant Lucky Reading, Lucky Cycles Law Special' book for $40."
Mr Lawlor said people who got mail like this should bin it.
"You've very little chance of getting any money back if you buy into these letters," Mr Lawlor said.
"Use your common sense and don't get dollar signs in your eyes."
For more information about scams visit
www.SCAMwatch.gov.au or to lodge a complaint visit www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au or call 13 13 04
