JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville, Florida, man said he thought he was helping another man retrieve thousands in lottery winnings, but instead that man took $32,000 of the victim's money and left.
"Now I can't trust anybody. I can't trust nobody now," the victim said. "This changes my way of life."
The victim, who is not being named, said he now wants to make sure no one else falls victim to the same scam he did.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office released a picture of the suspect that was captured in a Home Depot in Arlington.
That's where the man approached the victim, saying he had a winning lottery ticket and needed $40,000 to collect the total winnings.
The victim said he thought the man was desperate, so he offered his savings of $32,000. Another man — believed by police to be a second suspect — offered his savings of $8,000, according to JSO.
The victim said he's a Christian and thought he was helping someone in need when he handed over his life savings.
"He came to me very like sad and asking me for a favor, and he said, 'Tu hablas Espanol?' and I said, 'Yes, I do speak Spanish,'" the victim said.
The victim said the man also started talking with another man in the store, telling them he needed help getting papers. When they asked him why, the man told them both he had a winning lottery ticket, but didn't know how much it was worth.
The victim said the other man got on the phone to find out, and said this when he hung up:
"There is a problem because we need money to claim this ticket."
The victim said he didn't know nothing about it and then the other man offered $8,000 in cash but said that wouldn't be enough.
"He said, 'We have to help this guy, because this is a lot of money in this lottery, but do you have some money in your house? Savings in your house?'" the victim said. "That was my mistake, my error, because I told him it's my savings for all my life."
He said he decided to give the man $32,000, after being promised to receive $40,000 for his help.
The three men drove to the victim's house, where he picked up the money and gave it to the suspect. From there they went to a CVS to get paperwork and stamps the victim said he needed to claim his lottery winnings.
Then the man said he was sick and needed medicine and asked the victim to go inside a Family Dollar and get it.
"In that time, I came out, the car, it was gone, that's the time that I did realize. I couldn't believe it," the victim said.
Crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the first red flag was someone saying he needed money to collect lottery winnings.
"Now for a legitimate lottery, you don't need any money there," Smith said. "You don't need to have money in order to collect winnings from the lottery."
It was a hard lesson for a man who said he was just trying to help.
Anyone with information in regards to the alleged scammer's identity or whereabouts is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email the department atJSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. JSO said to remain anonymous and receive a possible reward up to $3,000, call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
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All that money laying around the house?? Wonder how old the victim is?
Defrauded by a confidence man with the promise of a $8,000 windfall!
I wish these articles would stop calling these people victims because they're not. Victims are usually forced into doing Something they don't want to do. Nobody forced him into anything. These people had control over what they were doing when they willfully gave their $$ away. I don't know people with that kind of $ that gives it away without doing research about the person they are giving it to and usually avoid doing personal business transactions with strangers. Only time I got scammed was on informercials but at least I got my $.back minus shipping fees lol.
And people are born with common sense so I dont know why they didn't use it other than to be greedy and dreamy.
Handing over your life savings because you thought u were helping out a Christian? Lol. Yea ok..... Where can I find these kind of generous idiots to help me out? I would love to accept someone's life savings. Anyone here feel like giving away their life savings????
Please get in touch with me asap!
He is not a victim, he is a fool!
Sweet Jesus. How can people still be this stupid, gullible, and naive in this day and age. Don't they listen to the news to know what goes on in the world
If everyone was a Lottery Post reader, this would never be an issue. But alas...
There's a sucker born in every minute - PT Barnum
Definition of a victim, per Merriam-Webster:
a person who has been attacked, injured, robbed, or killed by someone else
: a person who is cheated or fooled by someone else
: someone or something that is harmed by an unpleasant event (such as an illness or accident)
Though the term victim often is associated with the first degree of distinction, as the second statement indicates, force is not a requirement to be a victim. So, indeed they ARE victims.
I agree, common sense would prevent such events, however it does not displace the facts of someone being cheated or fooled by someone else, making them a victim.
What's old is new and vice-versa.
This sounds like a version of the pigeon drop scheme.
Back in the 70s I lived near 5th & Olney, a shopping district in Philly.
The scammers there did something called "the pigeon drop scheme"
In the scheme there's always a 3rd party ( the guy w/the $8G ) willing to help but doesn't have enough,
he also appears to not know the other scammer.
This tricks the victim into thinking, that if he trusts the guy w/ the problem, w/ his money, then it must be OK.
In the pigeon drop all 3 go to the bank where the scammers pretend to deposit the money,
telling the victim it will be safe there and giving him a fake receipt.
Really they bought a small money order or something to make it look like a real transaction.
This happened quite frequently and they never ran out of victims and were never caught.
There are many variations.
Tuff tties.
Sad as this is: This has everything to do with GREED.The victim has no one but himself to blame for his lack of vision.
* Wow, this poor guy wins the Lottery and can't cash his ticket, well hey l am a Christian, l have cash laying around the house.." unused " l know how l can come out ahead in a major way...hmm, what l will do is " help this guy out" by giving him my hard earned cash while l collect these Millions off him! -GREED! !
Fraud is the most prevalent crime in America!
"he had a winning lottery ticket and needed $40,000 to collect the total winnings." That rose a red flag for me. I could understand if the guy said I'm out of gas and I can't reach the lottery retailer to collect my winnings. I don't want my family to find out because their all money grubbers. Me, if a guy approached me like that. I would've wanted to fully research the winning ticket. I ran into a paraplegic the other day at a truck stop. He needed money for gas. The problem was, his legs were amputated from the knee caps. I was like, "how do you need gas money and you can't even reach the gas pedals?" He said, "Oh, it's for my friend who is at the pump." I was thinking, well, why isn't he over here asking for gas money. I just walked off.
That was the correct response. Don't fall for no shyster, especially, those Charity shysters, they are the worse. I had a woman call, wanting a donation for the families of fallen police officers. I asked her, what percentage of my donation will go to the family? She replied, ten percent, slam, hung up. BTW, I have 2 brothers living in S.c. One in Lancaster, the other in Cheraw. Welcome to LP!!!
Lottery winners understand how to use the word,"NO". A powerful two letter word.
Hi, what's your name? "mr doomass.....Hi mr DUMB A$$
You are so correct, and I hate that I can tell that some of my charities sold my phone # to other charities, particularly my animal charities. My least favorite was cancer awareness. Their phone calls were almost harassing in nature. I finally called them back and left a message that I will never donate one dime and to stop calling. Then there's this jackass from E. KY calling for some police or sheriff's fundraiser. Always calls here with the wrong name.
I don't care what Merriam's dictionary says, the dictionary "used" to say that marriage was between 1 man and 1 woman. Now it doesn't say that. These people are not victims they are "fools" look that definition up. If anything the so called victims are the scammers to me because they were willing to take advantage by taking the ticket for monetary gains. If he was such a good Christian and trusting he should have helped with the paperworks and drive him to the nearest lottery office or retailer....and last time I checked cvs didn't sell lotteries at least not in my town. I'm sure he wasn't new to playing the lottery either otherwise he wouldn't have been so fast to give away his savings to gain $8000 that he still would have had to pay taxes on lol.
Everything about this story made me chuckle.... esp the part to make himself look innocent and by saying he is a good Christian trying to help....Lol good Christians first of all dont play the lottery. God's laws forbid chasing get rich quick schemes.... any " good Christian" knows that!
I hate when someone calls me about donating to their charity and ask how much do I have to donate I ask them how much do they have to donate to me. Lol They usually hang up on me. I dont donate my money to phone calls. I send my money to real humans and to real organizations of my choice.
I don't want to fall "victim" of a telephone scam.
When you plan on donating do your homework. Check the legitimacy and history of the organization.
When you give then give anonymously. The receiver will not know who gave and will not track you down for more gifts.
When are people going to learn if you need to pay money to claim a prize, it's a scam pure and simple.
I've read there's another scam involving altered lottery tickets that reminds me of this one. A guy claims he has a winning lottery ticket, but doesn't want to claim it himself because he's in the country illegally and doesn't want to get deported. He offers to sell the ticket at near face value, but when the purchaser goes to claim it, it's a forgery. I wonder if that was going on here too.
Let me get this straight: $32,000 is every single penny you have in the world. It's not in an insured bank account collecting interest, it's not even in a safety deposit box. It's in your house, so that tells me that you don't trust banks. But you trust a total stranger you met that day, not only to hand over your life savings, but to be at your house.
When was the last time anyone brought a total stranger back to their house (in this case, 2 total strangers) and made it clear to them that large sums of cash at are kept at said house.
Forget the scam.for a minute and think about just that.
Sorry, I can't classify this guy as a victim. I don't see how the "victim" definition covers this scenario.
If he isn't mentally challenged then he was simply a person blinded by greed. This was the equivalent of an unsecured investment. He put up money in the hopes of getting a substantially large return, with no proof, no documented paperwork, not even an ID check. He took a shot and it backfired. As they said in Matchstick Men, they cannot scam an honest person.
I think this is a very lucky individual. His ass could have been killed for crying out loud.
IKR??? How could he possibly have taken these guys to his house?
thank you.... finally somebody that gets it, he is truly not a victim. I like the way u worded it "unsecured investment" lol....
I get that he was fooled, and I get that the police classify this as a scam, but if you add common sense into the equation, would you still consider him a victim?
If you give $5 to a panhandler and he spends it on liquor instead of food, were you scammed? There was no force or even coercion. Does his lie relegate you to the rank of "victim" or do give knowing full well that it may not go towards food, but you just hope that it will? I personally believe that when you opt to willingly (and gladly) turn over money to a total stranger with absolutely no supporting documentation that would legally require its return to you, it's tantamount to a monetary gift, regardless of what verbal promises are made. The only reason it's even an issue is because of the amount involved.
yes less then versed ppl use the victim blaming stance. Those who cannot comprehend- blame.
I tend to see this as a scam and it hit its target. Bernie Madof carried out his with wealthy people. Guess it goes to show that money buys neither wisdom or intelligence. That you'll find thru life and experiences...
As I stated, common sense was lacking but he IS still a victim, even though some may say greedy, who knows, but a victim none the less. Yes he may have been thinking of the money he thought he was going to capitalize on but how in the world does this dismiss the victim aspect. The panhandler scenario is not a comparative analogy. By giving $5 to a panhandler there is no expectation of the money being returned. Thus, completely irrelevant to a victim status.