Consumer Blog
Foreign lottery scam victim speaks
Missouri consumer writes:
I recently got an e-mail that said I had won a Jamaican lottery. They said send 1000.00 and you will receive 6.5 million. Then they said send 150.00 for the fed ex. Then they said to send them another $3705 and I would receive this money. When I confronted them that I was not sending them another dime they said the money would go to charity. Can these people be stopped and how can I retrieve my money?
Unfortunately this looks like the classic foreign lottery scam. Actually that's redundant, because all foreign lotteries are scams.
You will likely find it very difficult to get your money back, but you can try. Here are my suggestions:
- File a complaint with our office
- File a local police report, because this is theft
- File a complaint with the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center.
- And most importantly, tell everyone you know about this.
And think of all the old cliches:
- Don't do business with strangers;
- if it sounds too good to be true it probably is;
- your financial ship is not going to come in over the Internet;
- you can't win a lottery you didn't enter;
- you can't get something for nothing, etc., etc.
Technorati Tags: Internet Crime Complaint Center, complaints, consumer complaints, consumer protection, foreign lottery, overseas wire transfer, scam, wire transfer, wiring money, moagoconsumer, consumer protection
Posted by on June 15, 2007 9:36 am :: Comments (6) :: Permalink
6 Responses to "Foreign lottery scam victim speaks"
says:
June 20, 2007 12:43 pm
I RECEIVED A LETTER CONTAINING A CHECK THAT THEY SAID IN A LETTER WAS A CASHIERS CHECK IN THE AMOUNT OF $2840. THEY EXPLAIN IN THE LETTER I WON READERS DIGEST PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE LOTTERY PRIZE OF $50,000.00
says:
July 6, 2007 11:27 am
My Dad received a phone call from an outfit purporting to be the Better Business Bureau tell him that he needed to send his money to this lottery. I sure there was more to this but the jest of it was that he was convinced that if he sent this money he would have a good chance of getting a lot of money back. They made repeated requests and he diligently continued to send them money -- in cash per instructions. For any reading this -- remember, the BBB does not call you and never suggests that you invest in anything.
says:
July 6, 2007 6:19 pm
I received the same letter in the mail saying I won $62,000 and here is my $3750 for processing, the check looked real, security strip, watermarks, Chase Bank logo, and routing number, I hope these people go to prison for the rest of their lives..DO NOT CASH THE CHECK, CALL THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISION AND THE ATTONEY GENERAL..
says:
September 19, 2007 9:57 am
I recieved a cashiers check in the amount of $980. The instructions are to keep $100, then go to Wal-mart and buy a Money Gram for $850. The money gram is to be sent to someone in canada and I am suppose to evaluate the whole money gram effectiveness and efficiency. I didn't know it was a scam, but after talking to my sister she told me that she had seen the scam on TV and told me to check into it. I haven't done anything with the check yet.
says:
September 20, 2007 10:03 am
To LeAnn:
This is a scam - don't do it!
says:
October 30, 2007 9:46 pm
You don't really need or want that lifestyle, it might hurt y'all slowly more.......Just tell him you
don't wanna repeat something your not too proud of z7uas.
