Former W.V. Lottery inspector admits lying to feds
A former inspector with the West Virginia Lottery Commission admitted Wednesday that she lied to investigators about taking money from a former state delegate who ran an illegal gambling ring in West Virginia and Kentucky.
Carolyn A. Kitchen, 55, of Chapmanville, admitted that she lied to investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service when they questioned her about her involvement with Joe C. Ferrell in February 2008.
Among other things, they asked ...
Nov 17, 2010, 10:45 pm - Lottery News forum
Con artists target N.J. seniors in lottery scam
The first call came in December.
How are you? How's your day? We have a wonderful thing to tell you, a 65-year-old Ocean County woman said of her first telephone conversation with the Jamaican-sounding strangers.
They said I had won an award, the woman said. (The prizes) ranged from $1.5 million to over $5.5 million.
The callers told her she had to send them money to purchase stamps so that her prize could be delivered. She sent the money, but then she got more phone calls with vario ...
Nov 7, 2010, 9:55 am - Lottery News forum
Florida woman accused of running personal lottery
A mother who solicited her neighbors for cash with the promise of a $500 prize was arrested Saturday and charged with leading an illegal lottery, authorities said.
Tina Marie Bell, 47, had her daughter fill mailboxes with letters asking residents to send $5 entrance fees for a chance at the winnings, according to a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report. All money was to be sent to Bell's home on Rainbow Lane.
A neighbor asked the Sheriff's Office if the lottery was a scam, and a deputy resp ...
Nov 2, 2010, 8:31 am - Lottery News forum
Once a victim, retiree allegedly joined scammers to bilk others
Authorities allege that Thomas Murphy, 68, became a mule for an overseas ring that took in $800,000
They preyed on the elderly often by trolling obituaries for new widows or widowers and enticed them into believing they'd won a lottery but needed to pay the tax on their winnings to claim them.
Thomas Murphy, 68, a retired principal, teacher and coach from Henderson, Minn., started as a victim. Then, police say, he joined the scam in a failed attempt to try to recoup his losses.
Authorit ...
Oct 20, 2010, 8:39 am - Lottery News forum
Canada lottery winner robbed, beaten
Should winners' information be published?
The daughter of a Canadian lottery winner said she believes her mother was robbed and beaten because information was published about the winner.
Diana Masciotra, the daughter of Evelyn Cassis of Kirkland, Quebec, asked Loto-Quebec, the Quebec lottery to stop publishing information about her mother after Cassis was attacked in her home following her $52,000 lottery win, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.
Two men wearing masks and ...
Oct 16, 2010, 8:17 am - Lottery News forum
Couple, son charged in Detroit illegal lottery
They went searching for drugs, but discovered a major gambling operation instead.
A federal judge in Detroit today unsealed a criminal complaint detailing a large-scale, multi-state gambling operation allegedly run by an elderly Detroit couple that for decades has operated out of coney island restaurants, storefronts and homes in the Detroit area.
According to the complaint, federal agents stumbled upon the gambling operation in 2007 when they went to execute a search warrant at a Farmingt ...
Oct 13, 2010, 9:22 pm - Lottery News forum
Elderly woman loses $300K to Jamaican lottery scam
People ripped off by one scam could be targeted for dozens more. A database of easy targets is now being used by con-artists.
Stuart Childers said a stack of documents he showed WFTV Wednesday is paper trial of the hundreds of wire transfers his 75-year-old mother sent to scam artists.
She put it to us she wanted to leave a legacy, do something good for the family, Childer said.
Childers said his mother fell victim to a Jamaican lottery scam and gave the thieves close to $300,000 in a ...
Oct 7, 2010, 11:00 am - Lottery News forum
Canadian family charged with stealing $12.5M lottery jackpot
Search is on for rightful owner of winning ticket
Are you the victim of an alleged $12.5-million lottery jackpot theft?
Ontario police say someone else celebrated with what should have been your happy dance. The rightful owner of the Super 7 ticket was defrauded of the winnings nearly seven years ago, police say.
Meanwhile, investigators allege the family accused of stealing the winnings lived in the lap of luxury multiple homes and BMW and Mercedes vehicles were among their big-ticket ...
Sep 30, 2010, 8:23 am - Lottery News forum
Lottery scams dupe thousands
South Carolina couple's savings disappear; phone rings off hook
Dick Long fought in the Philippines under MacArthur.
Lillie Long taught first-graders for nearly three decades.
Now, every time they go to the mailbox and just about every time they pick up the phone, they're being scammed.
The Longs are lured by promises that seem so convincing and so easy to reach: Just send a few dollars and you will win millions in foreign lotteries and sweepstakes.
Hopeful, they send the money.
...
Sep 27, 2010, 9:59 am - Lottery News forum
Clerk tried to steal $14 million lottery ticket
A retired New York transit worker is a big winner, but it took some detective work to find out just how big.
$14 million, it turns out.
The New York Lottery on Friday revealed the tale of Milledge McCassell, 72, of Laurelton, in hope of delivering a moral to the story.
McCassell on Aug. 26 took unsigned tickets he bought a day earlier to the Dynasty Deli and Grocery in Jamaica, Queens, to check for possible prizes.
He checked them himself on a store scanner, which for one ticket flas ...
Sep 17, 2010, 9:21 pm - Lottery News forum
