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St. Lucie sheriff: Beware lottery scam
Monday, October 16, 2006 posted 09:57 AM EDT
FORT PIERCE — Irish Lottery, Wild Life Wins Games International Programs, Rand Intranet Sweepstakes and European International
Lottery Programs.
These are the same scam, just with different names.
That's the message local law-enforcement officials are telling St. Lucie County residents who may be receiving letters in
their mailboxes claiming they have won an international lottery.
"It's been unusually busy lately" with lottery scams, said Deputy Gary Gonsalves of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office
crime prevention unit. "Our neighborhood watch members are letting us know about several similar mailings they have received
lately."
A recent rash of international lottery scams has been creeping into residents' mailboxes, and authorities want to warn residents
of the scams before they fall victim.
Most of them look official with professional letterheads, contact numbers and even a fake history of the lottery.
The letters state the recipient has won some sort of lottery — usually from another country — and urge the "winner" to
immediately deposit a provided check into a personal bank account to clear taxes and other fees.
But once deposited, the scammers have access to the bank account number and can drain the funds from it. Plus, the provided
check will bounce, leaving the resident with nothing.
"I've been doing this for 22 years,, and each year the scammers get better and better," said Gonsalves. "I think people do
it because everyone has a little greed in them."
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