Prosecutors Desk 5-9-11 – Beware!

Beware!  There are people who are willing to lie, cheat and say anything so that others will believe and do something they want.   Most of these people will promise something to get something.   Members of the public should be cautious of any promise by someone who contacts them by e-mail, telephone, or even door to door and asks for personal information.

Recently a local Law Enforcement agency received a call from a local person who wanted to report the fact that he was the victim of a theft.  The main facts were that he had received an e-mail that he had won a drawing. The letter said his name had been picked from a list of persons who had been registered to vote in the last election and that all he had to do was claim his prize.  The prize was a large cash award.

In order to claim the cash, he needed to answer the email with his name and address so the winning check could be delivered.  He was asked to send a minimal sum by Western Union in response to the e-mail.   The money was for “processing” expenses.    The local person went to Western Union and sent the cash.  It was to be delivered to an address in the eastern United States.

A short time later he received another e-mail saying the cash had been received and the delivery of the winning money was coming soon.  A day or two later he received another e-mail stating that the person with the check was in Colville and needed to have directions to his address so he could make immediate delivery.  The mail also asked for more cash to pay a “delivery fee”.  It promised that as soon as he sent the money the delivery of the award check would be made.

Thinking he was on the edge of receipt of the winnings, the victim sent more money, and waited, and waited and waited.  He finally realized that there was no money coming and called to report this theft.   Of course, all of it was a lie.  There was no award, all the addresses were phony.  It was a trick to take advantage of the fact that people will believe what they want to.  All of us would like to believe we have won a cash award.

This type of things may happen more than we know because some folks may have been similar victims and been too embarrassed to finally report it. If you have been contacted with a similar promise, do not send anything or even reply.  Do not give personal information to anyone who contacts you that you do not know.  Instead contact your local Law Enforcement office.

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