YORK COUNTY, S.C. — The York County Sheriff’s Office reported that a resident has been scammed out of $143,500 through a lottery scam.
In this common “You’ve won the lottery” scam the two suspects, A “Ben Washington” & “Shirley Marsh”, informed the victim that he had won $2.8 million dollars, a release stated.
One of the suspects told the victim to send $3,500 to an address in Empoira, Kansas to be able to receive the money.
According to a news release, after the initial money was sent the scammers called again to request 2 blank checks to verify the victim’s information. The victim then complied.
The scammers then cashed the $3,500 and to write and cash the two checks totaling $140,000.
This lottery scam is one of the more common scams victims fall prey to every year, according to a news release. In 2018 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 132,470 reports of scams involving prizes, sweepstakes and lotteries that swindled victims totaling $118 million.
Sheriff Kevin Tolson of York County asks citizens educate family members, especially the elderly about these scams.
The following are common signs of the lottery scam:
- Crooks take advantage of our natural desire to win.
- If you receive a phone call, letter or email from anyone saying you’ve won the lottery it is NOT true.
- No matter how official the solicitation looks or sounds, it is not real.
- It’s illegal to use the mail or telephone to play lotteries across borders.
- Joining a lottery “club” won’t improve your chances of winning foreign lotteries.
- Be cautious when giving out your credit card or bank account numbers.
- Lottery scammers often insist the money be wired or mailed to them.
- Your chances of recovering money from foreign crooks may be even worse than of actually winning a lottery.
