Police warn of international lottery scam

Friday, May 18, 2007 posted 10:13 AM EDT

Camarillo police are asking residents to be aware of a lottery scam that has continued to target local citizens.

Last December, police first received reports of lottery fraud in the mail and said a Camarillo man was recently scammed out of $10,000.

Police do not know how many people have received the fraudulent letters and are in contact with the Ventura and Oxnard police departments to determine how widespread the scam has become.

Residents have been receiving letters and a check in the mail informing them they have won a large sum of money in an international lottery program.

The letter indicates the check was sent to assist them in paying the taxes or "clearance fees" that must be paid before they can receive the grand prize.

The recipients are instructed to deposit the check into their account and then wire the money, usually outside the United States, to cover the taxes or fees.

Such letters are scams. No lottery exists and no winnings are ever sent.

The scam works because the check that is sent with the letter is deposited into the victim's account and then the victim wires the money to a specified location.

The check cannot be traced once the money is wired and picked up. A few days later the deposited check is identified as fraudulent.

Sometimes these notifications are made by phone instead of letter. Sr. Dep. Robert Maclean warns citizens, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Residents are advised to hang up if they have doubts about a caller, never send money to receive a prize, and never give out private financial information.

For more information, call the Camarillo crime prevention officer at (805) 388-5130.

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