Penn. woman Loses $20,000 In Jamaican Lottery Scam

Jan 31, 2006, 7:03 am (18 comments)

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A Bethlehem woman was defrauded of nearly $20,000 throughout January after she was led to believe she'd won the Jamaican lottery.

Sue Turnback, 68, said a woman calling herself Carrinne Campbell called her Jan. 4, police said. Campbell said Turnback won $2.2 million in the Jamaican lottery but had to mail $1,000 to Jamaica to process the winnings. Turnback sent the money in an international money order the same day. Turnback received another call later from a man calling himself Everett Montaque, asking for an additional $4,000, police said.

Turnback sent six payments totaling $19,880 to several addresses in Jamaica and Florida, police said. She also spent $410.96 to buy the money orders.

Turnback told police Montaque claimed to be an FBI agent at one point, that there was a warrant out for Turnback's arrest, and she would have to send $5,000 to clear it up. She sent him the money.

Turnback called police after an employee where she was buying money orders asked what she needed them for, and then recommended she call the police.

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DoubleDown

Permit me to say the following:

 

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH !!!!!

Bang Head

lottolady24's avatarlottolady24

Wow, she really got the raw end of this scam.  They kept coming back for more.  Poor lady.  Literally now. 

                                  Dupe Alert

jim695

DD: 

Well said.

Allow me to elaborate; if you've never heard of the sponsor, and if you didn't enter their contest, odds are better than average that you'll finish somewhere below first place after all the votes are tallied.

Of course, there's always the remote possibility that they just like you so much that they'd pay you even if you didn't buy a ticket. If this is the case, remember, the more money you send them, the better they'll like you, and so it follows that the prize you didn't win will be even bigger!

Obviously, those foreign lotteries are much easier to win than any of the games here in the States. I think we should start a petition to introduce national legislation which would do away with the ticket concept entirely. Then we would no longer be bothered with those pesky prize payouts, and everybody in the country would have the opportunity to not win a significant amount of money at least once in their lives. 

winner2b

sooo damn sad

Tenaj's avatarTenaj

What?What I can't understand is that with all of the technology today why can't they catch these crooks.  I know they move around quickly but if they can catch that serial killer who mailed a print out of a map to police, they can catch these crooks.

Is it because it is not a priority? and greed feed a scam. (getting somthing for nothing)

fja's avatarfja

I'm sorry but how in the hell do you go through life and save up enough money to lose it to a few phone calls from another country....its disturbing....and at what age do you take your parents money away from them?  This guy was from Penn Too.  https://www.lotterypost.com/news/127608.htm

mylollipop's avatarmylollipop

Sad WaveyW-hhhh a-a-aaaaaaaaa tttt!?  How could she?  It makes me sick to hear of how people scam the elderly.  They are vulnerable, too vulnerable.  Some show early signs of dementia.  I wish she had someone to control her assets.  It happens all the time.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

These people have managed to get themselves on a scammer's sucker list.  Now that I'm retired and spending more time at home, I get calls from at least one of these scammer every week and when I tell them I'm not interested in their offers to help me save or make money, they want to argue with me and I just hang-up on them.  Once they know you will and can afford to do business with a stranger you've never met and can't check out, you're on their list.

Chewie

Ahhh the shiney lure.  Kinda wonder how close to fish some really are!

DoubleDown

" It's the lure of easy money, it's got a very strong appeal "

HiYoSilver

It's not only the Lottery scams that get people. I have a relative that falls for almost every easy money pitch that comes his way. He once sent 10k to some guy in Chicago for "Silver futures" and lost,  then sent another 5k for "Heating Oil futures" to try and make the money back. I once told him that had he put all the money he spent trying to get rich into Government Bonds he would now be rich.

It's not just the elderly, this uncle has been doing this for 25 years. Time after time he's come to me with these "opportunities" and I've gone so far as to show him articles about the scam and he invests anyway.It's like he goes into a trance when you say the magic words "double or triple your money in a week or month or whatever".

mylollipop's avatarmylollipop

It's not only the Lottery scams that get people. I have a relative that falls for almost every easy money pitch that comes his way. He once sent 10k to some guy in Chicago for "Silver futures" and lost,  then sent another 5k for "Heating Oil futures" to try and make the money back. I once told him that had he put all the money he spent trying to get rich into Government Bonds he would now be rich.

It's not just the elderly, this uncle has been doing this for 25 years. Time after time he's come to me with these "opportunities" and I've gone so far as to show him articles about the scam and he invests anyway.It's like he goes into a trance when you say the magic words "double or triple your money in a week or month or whatever".

Since he obviously wants to throw away his money, have him invest in something you know is good and then tell him how much he earned by listening to your choice.  But he can not know it is legit or he will not listen to you Approve

Chewie

Maybe the woman was influenced by drugs 30 or 40 years ago and can't control herself.  Once you fail, you'll always be a failure.  Temptation just can't be overcome.  If you can over come temptation, you must be a freak of nature.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

Maybe the woman was influenced by drugs 30 or 40 years ago and can't control herself.  Once you fail, you'll always be a failure.  Temptation just can't be overcome.  If you can over come temptation, you must be a freak of nature.

As cruel as Chewie can be, I've got to agree with him here. I get so angry when somebody tries to take advantage of someone who is mentally retarded or handicapped. Children need to be told not to talk to strangers because they might be predators. Yes, the world is not a safe place and that makes me very sad sometimes.

However, this is a case of being so braindead that she shouldn't do her own grocery shopping because a cashier might tell her milk has gone up to $55 a gallon but it will show $2.89 on the receipt because they haven't changed the register yet.  Maybe if she got a letter from Jeffrey Skilling that now is a great time to buy Enron stock, she'd believe that too. If the IRS called and told her she won a raffle so she never has to pay taxes again, but she has to send the deed to her home to a Post Office Box, well you know what I'm saying. 

I have been a fool and done some pretty flaky things (like trusting a financial advisor or a lawyer..or my ex-husband. lol)  but puhleeeeeze.  The Jamaican Lottery?

Whoa! I'm editing this post right now. Who said the word "ELDERLY?"  I beg your pardon..68 is not old & senile and, unless this poor lady has an illness like Alzheimer's, her brain should be functioning just fine. I thought we were talking about an 86 year old woman, not 68!  Along with my breasts and my rear end, I realize my brain cell count is falling with age, but my father is 92 and wouldn't fall for this. 

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