Peterborough police say a woman lost $13,000 to a lottery scam last week.
On July 3, the woman received a phone call from someone claiming she had won $2.5 million and a car. Police say the man asked her to transfer $700 into an account in order to claim her prize.
She then received three further requests of money transfers of $1,500, $800 and $10,000 respectively, police say.
“The victim also complied with these requests and transferred the money into various accounts,” police stated Monday.
Police say the woman then received one last call from someone claiming to represent the Canada Revenue Agency, stating that if she sent $8,000 the CRA would hire an investigator to get her funds back.
“The victim did not comply with this request and the incidents were reported to police,” stated police spokesperson Lauren Gilchrist.
Police say they’ve also recently received several reports of a scammer calling area residents claiming they have won the Mega Millions lottery.
“The caller is telling residents that in order to collect their prize they must purchase iTunes gifts cards and then call the scammers back with the codes on the cards,” stated Gilchrist. “Several persons were told that when purchasing the cards they should not mention what the cards are for but to state that the cards are for family or grandchildren.”
Police offer the following tips to protect yourself from such scams:
• Known lottery and sweepstakes companies such as Reader’s Digest and Publisher’s Clearinghouse will never request money up front in order to receive a prize.
• Any fees associated to winnings will never be paid through a money service business such as Western Union, MoneyGram or by loading funds to prepaid credit cards such as Green Dot.
• Any unsolicited phone call advising that you have won a lottery is fake. The only way to participate in any foreign lottery is to go to the country of origin and purchase a ticket in person. A ticket cannot be purchased on your behalf.
• Never give out personal information over the phone, no matter who the caller claims to represent.
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