Thursday’s column: He didn’t get taken in scam
Hugh Elliott | Photo by Eric Brady
Hugh Elliott of Roanoke invested $10 in last weekend’s big lottery jackpot, and like me and everyone else in the Roanoke Valley, he came up a loser once again.
But then the retiree received a mailing Monday stamped “Royal Mail” that informed him he was the lucky winner of a British lottery he’d never entered.
Elliott, 77, had scored $150,000 in the “UK & North American Shoppers Sweepstake” (sic), purportedly sponsored by The National Lottery Inc.
“You have won this prize by shopping in one or more of the selected stores in North America: Wal-Mart, Sears, Walgreens, Kmart, Costco, Staples, Home Depot, Office Depot etc.,” the letter reads.
There was only one hitch: $1,950 in British taxes had to be paid on Elliott’s prize before it could be disbursed to him, the letter said.
Helpfully, the mailing also included a check, made out to Elliott in the amount of $3,750. It was drawn on Fifth Third Bank, a major mid-western financial institution. Curiously, the payor was Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. in Lafayette, Ind., which also is a real company.
All Elliott had to do, according to the letter, was cash that check, then wire the $1,950 to a British tax agent.
The letter goes on: “After the applicable taxes are paid, you will receive a second check which will be the balance of your winning (sic) (US$146,250).”
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE
The phony check that Hugh Elliott received in the lottery scam | Photo by Eric Brady
April 5, 2012 - 6:00 AM
It would have been interesting to hear what kind of story Mr. Luck would have told you, had you pretended to be Mr. Elliott.
It’s hard to believe there are people gullible enough to fall for these scams. Common sense should tell someone that you aren’t suddenly going to get free money, or thousands more if you just pay the sender a small fee.
I’m surprised that when you called the company about the lottery you didn’t get the following response…
“MY NAME IS PEGGY!!”
I wonder where scamming fits in the scope of the overall economy?
It’s purely a statistical game. You cast wide net and enough folks will go for it to make it worthwhile. I consider about half he products advertised on TV as scams, the power balance bracelet, homeopathic medicines, psychics, cold coins with little gold. Any medicine Rush endorses (Zicam, Garlique) is worthless.
The amount of money we spend on this must be substantial and rests entirely on the scammers certain knowledge that we have a great ability to wish good things were true.
You know, being a skeptic puts me on the outside of a lot of social norms, but I have to say that I haven’t been scammed in a long time.
I egt a dozen emails a week from “the UK lottery” or someguy claiming to be a bank manager for the world bank or the Bqnk of Nigeria or some other international bank or the Australian Lotto. And all of them have basically the same message . Just send us a couple thousand bucks, or give us your bank or credit card number and we’ll send you a jillion dollars. How any ratioal person could fall for this crap is far beyond me.
This qualifies as news why?
Hi Thomas, thanks for the comment.
First, lots of people are getting taken in this scam. Read the comments (in the full column, link at the bottom) from the Julie Wheeler at the BBB.
Second, it’s being pulled on people in this area.
Is there some reason you would rather not have such information out there?
I have to say that I’ve never gotten one like that. Plenty of emails scams, of course, but what appears to be an actual check arriving in the mail? No.
Years ago my 90+ year old grandmother received a phone call saying she had won a large amount of money. She told them, “that’s wonderful!”. Then she was told she needed to send in certain amount for taxes, etc. She said, “subtract that amount from my winnings & send the rest to me.” They hung up.
gdad, the check scams are the latest and greatest flimflam, and they take a few different guises. The “you’ve-won-a-lottery” is the most common. But there are variations known as the roommate scam and the Craigslist scam.
With the roommate scam, someone answers an ad and then forwards a money order or check to cover the 1st month’s security deposit and rent. Ooops, they mistakenly sent too much! Please wire them the overpayment after you deposit their check.
In the Craigslist scam, they target sellers of property, but it works the same way. They send a check.money/order for too much, and request the difference be wired to them. After the wire is done, you find out the check/money order is fake.
Amazingly this could all be avoided with a simple google search. Everyone over 60 should get mandatory google training.
iFish, I agree that it’s hard to believe people fall for these things. But it’s also importance to recognize that they do.
Hugh Elliott didn’t fall for it. But, he has no computer. I’m not sure he knows how to look up anything on Google (my kids are a hell of a lot better at navigating Facebook than I am, btw).
I received the exact same check from the same two companies., I had to contact Anthony Hahn from England though. I am not elderly though
Ironically, I just received this in the mail today, and I must admit that it is quite tempting if I were struggling. I googled this phony check scam, and this is what I found. Dan in your article about Hugh with the picture of that check, looked exactly lke the one that came today. I mean exact, the numbers even matched at the bottom. I would feel bad for the next person who is struggling and receives this in the mail.
I just got the same check in the mail toda — different signature, though — and found this article on a web search. Thanks for covering the story.
Than you for the information….we got the same check and letter. The difference with this scam is they send you a check, and its NOT an e-mail. Everyone knows not to send money up front, however when they send you a check ….and it seems real…and you regularly enter sweepstakes…. it may be tempting. Thank you for providing the info!
If I were Mr. Luck, I would target 0bama voters. They have a history of getting scammed.
I like the comment from Suzie about Obama, I would guess the only people who bit at this scam are the ones who voted for him as they are all wanting something for nothing, I did take the time to google it though
#17 SNORT!
WOW Holly…youve even one upped Willard-s 47 percent..
“I would guess the only people who bit at this scam are the ones who voted for him”
So by your logic almost 67 million people wanted and must still want something for nothing…
or 53 percent…
The extreme elements of the Right Wing are even becoming more rabid than Willard..
Wackiness is the gift that keeps on giving (or taking)