Friday, April 11, 2014
Lawrence Woman Loses Money In Sweepstakes Scams
A local woman reported to authorities Tuesday that she had been so upset after falling victim to two separate sweepstakes scams that she had to be hospitalized.
The forty-three year old victim requested that Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies be dispatched to her McCaleb Road home at around noon. She said that she had wired money on two different occasions in an attempt to claim sweepstakes winnings.
The victim reported that she had been contacted from private numbers by individuals claiming to represent Mega Millions and Readers Digest sweepstakes.
She told deputies that in order to claim her prizes, she wired funds (the amounts of which she did not disclose) via Western Union and Money Gram as requested. She said that the funds were sent to foreign countries.
The victim reported to deputies that, “It had her so upset she had been in the hospital.”
On Tuesday, the victim said she received another call. This time the scammers told her she had won a red Mercedes Benz.
The caller told her he would come to her home, driving a white Mercedes, and that a tow truck would be used to deliver her prize. He told the victim that they were coming through Pulaski and would soon be at her home.
The victim told deputies that she realized this was a scam, but did wish to have the matter documented. The reporting deputy noted that the victim joked, “If they showed up with her new car she would call back and let us drive it.”
