New Scam Involves the Florida Lottery

According to a recent press release, citizens in the United States now have to watch out for a new scam involving a "fake" check from the Florida Lottery.

Everyone knows about these scams but yet people are still falling for them. Whether they are online, this type known as "spam"or in the mail, these scams generally offer you huge amounts of money by simply sending a small portion of money in or signing up for something. The scam is when you send your portion of money in to get the real "large" amount of money, it never comes in, and this is where the scam artists make the money.

A new scam is involving a scam artist pretending to be associated with the Florida Lottery. Apparently in the scam, a person will receive a signed check from "Florida Leisure & Gaming" with the signature that is forged from Leo DiBenigno, whom is the Secretary for the Florida Lottery. This is the part of the scam that provides a connection the Florida Lottery. Also, in the letter attached with the check, the recipient is informed that they have won a sweep-stake that entitles them to money. The letter says that sweep-stake was sponsored by multi-national companies that are in North America. On the letterhead that the letter is typed on is a Canadian address the scam artist leaves the recipient with.

So how does the scam actually work from this point? People who receive this letter are supposed to return a sum of there check once they deposit it to the Western Union they will cover government taxes as well as so-called surcharges.

"People are willing to pay out-of-pocket fees in order to receive the large prize amount promised to them," Pitts explained. "However, during the bank's verification process, victims discover the check mailed to them is worthless." By this time, the victim has already sent these so called government taxes to the scam artist so it is too late for them.

Quite a great idea? It is for those who fall for it. Florida Lottery warned people nation wide after they had received numerous calls about whether the checks they received were actually authentic. Calls came from everywhere including the north east, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania.

"Unfortunately lottery scams are widespread, and consumers should beware," said Doug Pitts, director of security at the Florida Lottery. "The Florida Lottery will never ask players for money in order to collect a prize."

So beware and always get more information before falling for a scam whether it is online or in the mail.

SOURCE

PRnewswire