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Lottery scammers sentenced to prison after netting $700,000 from victimsNews Story
Over half a million dollars later, fraudsters are finally caught By Kate Northrop Two lottery scammers who defrauded elderly victims of $700,000 will be spending time behind bars in federal prison, Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus announced. Jason Wedderburn, 41, and Kayan Kitson, 38, were each sentenced to two to three years in federal prison along with 3 years of federal supervised release after netting over half a million dollars from senior citizens in several sta
Nov 22, 2021, 1:32 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammer stole nearly $1 million from one elderly womanNews Story
Crook is sentenced to nine years in federal prison By Kate Northrop On Wednesday, a scammer who stole almost $1 million from one single victim in a lottery scheme was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. Leonard Luton, a Jamaican national living in Brooklyn, New York, scammed an elderly woman from Estes Park, Colorado of more than $970,000, according to prosecutors. Court documents show that Luton and another Jamaican national worked together in a scam to convince the woman tha
Aug 10, 2021, 5:37 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammers steal $1.2 million from one victimNews Story
Crook receives six years in prison for crimes of conspiracy and fraud By Kate Northrop After stealing over $1 million from one single victim, the leader of a ring of Jamaican scam artists was sentenced Friday to almost six years in prison. Like any typical scammer, Stieve Fernandez, 35, spent his time deceiving vulnerable individuals and robbing elderly targets of their life savings as part of a high-functioning underground network of lottery fraudsters. Fernandez was said to h
Jul 12, 2021, 12:45 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scams and fake sweepstakes cost Americans $227 million in 2020News Story
Report finds that victims lost 33% more money in scams compared to 2019 By Kate Northrop A report on sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams revealed that Americans lost a whopping $227 million to con artists last year. Better Business Bureau investigator Steve Baker put out some eye-opening statistics that show a decrease in complaints but a troubling 33% increase in the amount of money lost by Americans to scammers. Kathy Chapman told CBS News the story about how her unsuspecting 84-y
Jun 14, 2021, 10:37 am - Lottery News

New Jersey scammer defrauds 3 elderly women of $675,000News Story
Lotteries urge players to be wary of the telltale signs you are being scammed By Kate Northrop A scammer from New Jersey tricked three elderly women across the country into sending her over $675,000 by convincing them that they owed prepaid taxes as a prerequisite for claiming a prize that didn't exist. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey, Shanile Lyle, 27, of Orange was charged on Monday with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after wrongly convincing her v
Dec 4, 2020, 2:39 pm - Lottery News

Lottery scammer who stole thousands from elderly women pleads guiltyNews Story
Exposed fraud ring defrauded 16 known victims in a two and a half-year conspiracy By Kate Northrop A Colombian woman who helped a fraud ring execute lottery scams that systematically targeted grandmothers was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tuesday, Luisa Camargo, 39, was sentenced to nine months in jail (that she already served) and two years on supervised release. After joining the fraud ring and causing thousands of dollars in losses, she alone will pay $38,069 in re
Jun 24, 2020, 7:48 am - Lottery News

Michigan Lottery warns public about increase in prize scams during coronavirus outbreakNews Story
The Michigan Lottery is warning the public about a scam in which people are told they've won a big prize but need to pay a fee or provide sensitive personal information to collect it. The scam works like this: A person gets a letter, email, or phone call to inform them that they've won a big lottery prize but must pay a fee or provide sensitive personal information to collect the prize. If the person agrees to pay a fee, the scam artist convinces them to mail a cashier's check, make an ele
Apr 8, 2020, 7:56 am - Lottery News

Daughter saves Massachusetts man from being victimized in sweepstakes scamNews Story
A dream of a lifetime seemed to have come true last week for an elderly Massachusetts man when he received a call from someone who claimed to represent Publisher's Clearing House. The caller told the elderly Swampscott man he had just won $8.5 million plus a brand new Chevrolet in their national lottery. All he needed to do, the caller told him, was to pay the $45,000 taxes due on the money and the prize would be his. It didn't occur to the man being scammed that the tax bill on $8.5 milli
Mar 19, 2020, 10:36 am - Lottery News

S.C. man loses more than $140K to 'you've won the lottery' scamNews Story
Includes video report Deputies say a man lost more than $140,000 to a lottery scam in York County, South Carolina. The resident was scammed out of $143,500 via the common you've won the lottery scam. In this case, deputies say two suspects a Ben Washington and Shirley Marsh informed the victim he had won $2.8 million. Shirley reportedly told the victim to send $3,500 to an address in Emporia, Kansas to be able to receive the money. After that money was sent, deputies say the scam
Feb 28, 2020, 10:31 am - Lottery News

California man pleads guilty to Latina grandmothers lottery scamNews Story
A Los Angeles man pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge for targeting Latina grandmothers in Long Beach and throughout Southern California in a scam involving a fake winning lottery ticket. Tito Lozada, 50, faces sentencing May 11 on a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Two of three additional defendants previously pleaded guilty to the same charge and are awaiting sentencing in Los Angeles federal court. L
Feb 25, 2020, 1:39 pm - Lottery News