NCJ Number
212543
Date Published
2004
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This DVD, produced by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, presents a story on a foreign lottery fraud victim and steps to take to avoid becoming a foreign lottery fraud victim.
Abstract
An elderly woman receives mail from a fraudulent organization telling her that she can make lots of money playing the foreign lottery in various countries. She is told the odds are better overseas. The elderly woman buys into what she is told and sends the organization, via check or credit card, her money to play the foreign lottery. In addition, if she wins, they will tell her she needs to send a couple thousand dollars more to cover the taxes on her winnings. What the woman does not know is that it is illegal in the United States to play foreign lotteries. These scam artists are known for preying on older/elderly individuals. This case study on a foreign lottery scam was created by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in a video format to inform people of the danger of becoming a victim of a foreign lottery scam. It presents five steps individuals can take to avoid becoming a foreign lottery victim. These include: (1) knowing that it is illegal to play a foreign lottery in the United States and doing so is breaking the law; (2) knowing there are no secrets to winning a foreign lottery, they usually don’t even exist; (3) knowing that purchasing even one ticket, results in being added to a “suckers” list that gets sold to other scam artists; (4) keeping personal information, like bank accounts and credit cards, private; and (5) individuals who think they have been a victim of one of these scams should call the U.S. Postal Inspectors immediately.