New Lottery Scam

Thursday, June 01, 2006 posted 10:37 AM EDT

A new foreign lottery scam is making its way around the Tri-State. The Better Business Bureau says they've gotten about five calls a day from victims.

The scam artists send out letters from a different country saying you've won the lottery. They include a fraudulent check for $3,000 to $4,000 you have to cash to get the lottery money.

But when the bank finds out you cashed a bad check, you have to pay back that money.

Michael Lauf, BBB communications director, describes, "Anytime you have to pay fees, it's not a real winning. You never have to pay three or four thousand dollars to a company. If you won a legitimate sweepstakes or contest, your winnings would be taken out of that before you receive the money."

Another good rule of thumb, never give out your bank account information or Social Security number to anyone you don't know.



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