Search

Better Business Bureau releases study on sweepstakes, lottery and prize scamsNews Story
A new report by the Better Business Bureau says sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams are using ever-changing methods to hurt victims financially and emotionally. The frauds concentrate on seniors, targeting them by direct mail, cold calling, social media, text messages and smartphone pop-ups. BBB warns consumers to be on guard against the serious frauds and their perpetrators. The report Sweepstakes, Lottery and Prize Scams: A Better Business Bureau Study of How 'Winners' Lose Millions
Jun 18, 2018, 8:02 am - Lottery News

Sweepstakes, lottery scams cost Americans more than $111 million in 2017News Story
A new study reveals sweepstakes, lottery and prize-related scams cost Americans millions of dollars each year. The Better Business Bureau calls these schemes some of the most serious and pervasive frauds operating today. In the past three years, the group says more than 460,000 Americans have reported losing a total of over $330 million to such scams. The Better Business Bureau says these crooks are professionals. They might take advantage of someone in your family, and they can be very c
Jun 5, 2018, 3:45 pm - Lottery News

Offshore gambling site laundered $2 million in Amazon gift cards, Feds sayNews Story
The operators of an offshore gambling website that accepts online lottery wagers used Amazon gift cards to launder nearly $2 million over the past few years, a Department of Homeland Security investigator alleged in a recent application for a seizure warrant filed in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The filing alleges that the Costa Rica-based gambling site, 5Dimes, instructed U.S. customers to use Amazon gift cards to fund their 5Dimes online gambling wagers, in an effort to skirt th
Mar 15, 2016, 7:53 pm - Lottery News

Major N.Y. sports betting ring bustedNews Story
Operated out of strip malls; 14 classic cars worth $100K each seized in raids Authorities busted a multi-million dollar sports gambling ring Tuesday that started out in a Staten Island video store and grew into an online operation run out of Costa Rica, officials said. More than a dozen raids were executed in three states Tuesday, leading to 28 arrests and the seizure of $5.7 million in assets including a Staten Island strip mall, real estate and 14 classic cars worth $100,000 a pop. Th
May 25, 2011, 7:15 am - Lottery News

Elderly man makes the right call on lottery scamNews Story
In the Star-Telegram Watchdog column, Dave Lieber recounts how an 86-year-old man did the right thing by not getting hooked in by lottery scammers again. For more than a year, George Kahak has followed my request that he call me before investing any more money in get-rich schemes. The 86-year-old former chief pilot for American Airlines is a compulsive scam victim. He's lost tens of thousands of dollars in dozens of scams. The other day, he called to say that he won $500,000 in a lottery a
Dec 14, 2009, 8:19 am - Lottery News

How online gamblers unmasked cheatersNews Story
In the wild, wild west, when a poker player was caught cheating it was a capital offense, with the punishment quickly dispensed right across the card table. But today if you're caught cheating in the popular and lucrative world of Internet poker, you may get away scot-free. At least that seems to be what is happening in the biggest scandal in the history of online gambling. A small group of people managed to cheat players out of more than $20 million. And it would have gone undetected if i
Dec 1, 2008, 2:17 pm - Lottery News

Costa Rica court rejects washed lottery ticketNews Story
A Costa Rican who mistakenly washed a winning lottery ticket worth 112,000 dollars lost a court appeal to obtain the prize, a report said Wednesday. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal by the man known only as Urroz, who selected the correct numbers for second prize in the June 29 draw but later found the remains of his ticket in the pocket of a pair of recently-washed pants, La Nacion daily reported. Lottery organizers in September refused to pay the prize without the whole ticket. T
Oct 15, 2008, 4:54 pm - Lottery News

Costa Rica not caving to U.S. gambling arrestsNews Story
Costa Rica finds itself in the middle of the fight between U.S. authorities and the online gambling industry. Think of Costa Rica and flashes of colorful birds, bright beaches and long hikes through the rain forest come to mind. But several recent arrests and indictments have thrust the country into the spotlight for another, less savory reason: its cozy relationship with the online gambling industry. The industry is under fire from U.S. authorities, helping create the notion that this sma
Sep 25, 2006, 2:27 pm - Lottery News