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The Canadian lottery scam
The Canadian lottery scam usually starts with calls from enthusiastic
telemarketers informing unsuspecting consumers that they have won the Canadian
Lottery. In some cases, the caller requires the victim to wire money to Canada
first to pay taxes on the winnings in order to obtain the prize later. Victims
often receive numerous calls. Each time, the caller asks the victim to wire more
money, citing complications in paying the necessary taxes or other fees
associated with getting the prize.
In other versions of the scam, the caller requests victims' bank account numbers
under the pretense that winnings will be deposited directly, or asks for the
victims' credit card numbers for "verification purposes." Either way, the
solicitor attempts to steal identifying information in order to loot the
victim's account, a scenario Attorney General Abbott urges consumers to avoid.
According to the Phonebusters program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in a
seven-week period late last year, 244 Texas victims wired almost $1 million to
Canada.
The problem has grown worse since many of these criminals have abandoned the
traditional "boiler room" settings and now use stolen cellular phones to call
victims. The perpetrators' mobility has made it much more difficult to track
them down and arrest them.
There is virtually no hope of recovering any funds lost to this scheme.
Accordingly, Attorney General Abbott has partnered with senior advocacy groups
like Triad and local law enforcement agencies to get the word out.
"If someone calls and says you have won the Canadian or any other foreign
lottery, simply hang up, and report the incident to the authorities
immediately," said the Attorney General.
As part of his presentation to the Regional Triad Conference, a crime-fighting
partnership of seniors and local law enforcement officers, Attorney General
Abbott played a recording of an actual phone conversation between a Canadian
Lottery phone solicitor and an elderly female victim.
The victim on the recording had previously sent large amounts of cash to Canada.
During the conversation the caller yells obscenities to the elderly woman when
she tells him she is unwilling to send additional funds.
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