Canada's Competition Bureau has handed down a notable punishment for someone running a phony lottery scheme David Stucky, 57, of Toronto was found guilty of running a lottery ticket reselling scheme for mailing out three million copies of a lottery promotion.
The promotion sold group shares of Super 7 lottery tickets and gave consumers the misleading impression that they could win tens of millions of dollars.
However, in a period of just over a year and a half, consumers actually won an average of 75 cents. The scheme took in a million dollars. David Stucky's been fined two million dollars and has to donate $100,000 more to charity.
Stucky also ran a sweepstakes offer called Canadian Equity Funding which targeted citizens in 200 different countries before authorities around the world banded together to bring it to a halt.
Canadians often assume these types of schemes are based in other countries -not here at home.
The sad fact is people in other countries look at Canada as a haven for this type of activity - just as we look at the United States or Europe, Africa or Asia as havens for people ripping off Canadians. Which is why Countries around the globe are now working together to stamp out this kind of activity. A hefty fine is a step in the right direction but the bottom line for viewers is: be skeptical. If no one buys in to these things --that will shut down these schemes a lot sooner than any law enforcement can.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.
