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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

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

The women who win hundreds of sweepstakes per yearNews Story
Click here to win a free trip to Iceland! ... Enter to win a 2019 Ford F-150! ... Share a photo on Twitter and win a lifetime supply of Hershey's Kisses! Spend enough time online, and you'll come across some kind of contest or sweepstakes offering you a chance to win a prize. Most of us brush these off as dangling carrots veiled corporate attempts to collect our data and court free advertising. The odds of actually winning seem miniscule. But a community of avid sweepers claim to have mast
Jul 15, 2019, 1:36 pm - Lottery News

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

OOPS: Phone fraudster tries to scam copNews Story
Includes video report A phone scammer made a grave error when he dialed Officer Jeff Bowling and attempted to access his personal information last week. At first, the caller had no clue he was on the line with a cop. Officer Bowling with the Peebles Police Department in Adams County, Ohio, was actually working on the case when he got a call from a strange number that turned out to be a phone scammer. He quickly began to record the conversation, which lasted for 11 minutes. A man on the
May 16, 2018, 2:54 pm - Lottery News

With promise of $1.5m prize, scam artist bilks woman out of nearly $28,000News Story
Vivian Murphy thought back to that heart-stopping moment when the voice on the phone proclaimed her the winner of a $1.5 million sweepstakes prize. For decades, Murphy, 85, had been a huge fan of Publishers Clearing House, the peddler of magazine subscriptions and household items widely known for TV commercials of winners dissolving into happy tears when presented with a gargantuan check. She entered nearly every drawing in the company's 50-year history, during which lucky winners have receiv
May 15, 2018, 8:12 am - Lottery News

S.C. lottery and electronic sweepstakes on collision courseNews Story
South Carolina retailers who offer electronic sweepstakes to customers are feeling jittery. That's according to one member of the S.C. Education Lottery Oversight Committee , a panel made up of state legislators and members of the public. The question is, are electronic sweepstakes legal in South Carolina? said Alexander Shadwick, after Tuesday's meeting. They don't know if the games are legal or illegal, so the courts have to decide, he said. But it scares all the retailers.
Sep 29, 2011, 9:03 am - Lottery News

Lottery scams dupe thousandsNews Story
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

N.C. Senate approves Internet sweepstakes banNews Story
The North Carolina Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation Monday to shutter hundreds of new businesses that bill supporters argue are offering just another form of illegal video poker where people buy phone or Internet time, then play games on computer screens to win cash and prizes. By a vote of 47-1, the chamber continued its long history of opposing video gambling, this time through electronic and computer-based devices springing up at new sweepstakes cafes or business centers. Nor
Jun 22, 2010, 9:40 am - Lottery News