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by Sheriff Jim Coats
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office
At one time or another most of us have
received an offer through the mail that promised a cash prize,
vacation or something else of value. Typically to be eligible the
"winner" only needs to reply by sending a small processing fee, or
in some cases, just by verifying their identity by submitting
seemingly harmless personal information. It is safe to say that
most of us know these offers are too good to be true and that they
are probably a scam. That said, many people respond to this type of
"offer" anyway because it seemed just too good to pass up or
because the amount of the processing fee was nominal.
Recently a Sheriff's Office investigation
into one of these mailings revealed a foreign lottery scam
targeting senior citizens. The investigation began in Pinellas
County and quickly spread across the State of Florida, and then
across the U.S. and Canada. According to Sheriff's detectives the
scam is simple, but effective. Mailings are sent to people who are
65 or older and it is estimated that thousands are sent and
received daily. The mailings promise a chance to win a foreign
lottery and sometimes notify the recipient that they have already
won. The lottery has had more than 16 different names that
detectives are aware of, names such as CDM, CIPD/GAA, and CAOJA.
The processing fee or "buy-in" for these lotteries is between
$30-80, for which the "winner" purchases "lucky lottery numbers"
that are theirs for a period of 3-12 months. Detectives say that
nothing is ever paid to the "winners," yet one victim told them he
was afraid to stop responding to the mailing for fear of learning
that his numbers would later become winners.
Detectives say greed motivates people to
enter and add that many people have responded to the "offer" in
hopes of winning a prize. The minimum payoff for the perpetrators
of the scam is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars, while the players get nothing. Detectives warn that even
if you do not sent any money, simply responding to the "offer" will
certainly result in additional mailings. One local victim received
more than 120 mailings in a 60-day period.
If you have received such a lottery
mailing — rest assured that it is a scam! Detectives urge you
not to respond to the "offer" and to either shred the mailing or
contact your local law enforcement agency to report it.
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