"Sweepstakes Scams"

May 18, 2011 column for the Morgan County Citizen and Lake Oconee News.

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office initiated investigations into three theft by deception incidents this past week as a result of “sweepstakes” scams. Although the specifics of each incident are different, each victim was notified they were winners in a “sweepstakes” contest despite the fact they may or may not have entered any contest. However, in order to claim their alleged prize, the winners were required to pay certain fees up front either through credit card, checking account routing information or Western Union or Money Gram type transactions.

As with most “sweepstakes” scams, once the victim pays the initial fee(s) imposed, the scam artists then require additional funds from the winner for any number of reasons to insure prompt delivery of their prize. They range from the prize delivery person falling victim to a tragic traffic accident and needing thousands of dollars for medical expenses in order to resume the prize delivery to helping uncover sweepstakes fraud by sending additional money for tracing purposes to identify corrupt individuals internally.

Unfortunately, once a victim falls for the initial bait, they become convinced they are truly winners and do not hesitate to pay the mandated incremental fees for an extended period of time which in some cases lasts for several years and ends up costing them thousands of dollars. In one recent case, the victim paid roughly seventy-four thousand dollars over a four year period and is still anxiously waiting their one million dollar check.

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office cautions everyone to be cognizant of the existence of these types of scams. Legitimate sweepstakes contests do not require any sort of payment from the winner whatsoever. Any taxes associated with a legitimate sweepstakes prize is paid to the IRS before the winner receives their winnings. Typically, scam “sweepstakes” originate from outside of the United States such as Jamaica or Nigeria and the perpetrators will initially use an 876 toll free telephone number but often times they will “spoof” caller identification by using an official government telephone number during the scam. They target the elderly knowing they are most vulnerable and easily swayed into believing their proposition. Once a member of the group makes contact with a potential victim, another coconspirator will follow-up with a second call to secure the initial payment. Shortly thereafter, a third conspirator will then convolute the process by alerting the victim of a delay in the delivery process for whatever reason they believe the victim will accept. As time goes on, additional conspirators will contact the victim pretending to be government officials investigating the “sweepstakes” contest to elicit continued payment to conduct the so called investigation.

These types of cases are extremely difficult to not only investigate but to prosecute as well. Since the victim voluntarily sends the perpetrators their hard earned money, albeit under false pretenses, the perpetrators are out of the country, they are smooth talkers, they used assumed names and as such there is minimal physical evidence. Residents are encouraged to verify any information related to winning any “sweepstakes” especially before paying the first dime!