Attorney general: Beware of scams
Friday, March 31st, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
From Staff Reports
Attorney General Roy Cooper warned North Carolinians to watch out for lottery scams as fraud artists may be taking advantage of the publicity surrounding the start of the state’s Education Lottery today.
The Attorney General’s office has seen a recent increase in reports from North Carolina consumers who have received lottery scam pitches. Lottery frauds arrive in the form of letters, e-mails and telemarketing calls, according to Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division.
Many lottery scams originate in other states or countries. Some use names or nicknames of legitimate lotteries like El Gordo from Spain, while others claim to be associated with non-existent lotteries such as Canadian National Lottery or the Las Vegas Actionable Awards Program.
Consumers are generally told that they’ve won a prize but must first wire money to cover taxes, insurance or other fees. In some cases, the scammers include a very real-looking counterfeit check or money order that is supposed to cover these fees.
Victims cash the check and wire the money, only to learn later the check was a fake. (more…)
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