Police are reminding residents to be wary of so-called international lottery scams in which large sums are promised but require recipients to send money before they can claim their prize.
Two Camden, New Jersey, residents were recently victims of this scam, police said.
One woman, an 84-year-old, sent a total of $25,000, money she got through cash advances on a credit card.
She reported the scam to police Sept. 29 after her prize money never arrived, said Camden Det. Zsakhiemcq James.
A 55-year-old woman sent about $4,000 after receiving a letter Sept. 22 notifying her that she won in the "third draw" of the "Scotland Lotto." She notified police on Monday10/23.
These scams have several things in common, James said.
The notification letter comes on official-looking letterhead and reads like an official, legal-sounding letter.
Victims are asked to send money for "taxes, fees, processing," etc., by FedEx, MoneyGram or Western Union, and told that the money is needed before the prize money can be released. Victims are also given a name and phone number to call to verify they won and to make arrangements to send the money.
When the victims call, they are assured that they are a lottery winner. Victims are given a short period of time to place the call or they lose the money.
In the case of the 84-year-old woman, her credit card company covered the loss and is not charging her, said James, who noted that is not typical.
The 55-year-old woman, however, will not recover her money. In her case, she received a check that the "lottery company" said was to cover taxes and fees. She was instructed to deposit the check into her own bank account, then withdraw the same amount and send it back.
She did but the original check was a fake, James said.
James said the names of the lottery companies and the addresses are constantly changing. Fraudulent names have included the North American Lottery, the Nigeria Lottery and the Scotland Lotto.
Avoiding Scams
Legitimate lotteries will not ask you to send any money up front for any reason. Any taxes or fees will be deducted from your winnings before you receive the prize money.
Never deposit a check into your own bank account and then return the same amount to the sender. It may take a week or so before the fake check is discovered by the bank.
The scam solicitations can come by e-mail or letter.
Often, they will contain misspelled words, though that is happening less as the scammers become more sophisticated.
The solicitations can indicate they are from a lottery, from an individual trapped in a foreign country (often Nigeria), or from an organization, including a faith-based or charitable group.
Report any solicitations you receive to your local police department or to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Newark office, at (973) 693-5400.
HEY FOLKS: lets be careful now, i read about something online a few weeks back about getting paid to test video games and pc games for companies but to get paid you have to send in x-amount of dollers before you can get paid, these scams are everywhere, the first lady is lucky that her credit card company covered her loss, im sorry for the second one, however my only question is :you have cash / credit up to $25,000 dollers and you are told that you have to send this amount of money to so and so company to receive more money ? last time i checked , a bird in the hand was still worth more than two in the bush, am i wrong, ? or can i get an amen" any way this is whom im with : does any one else agree ,
I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian leader who died recently in Paris. Since his death and even prior to the announcement, I have been thrown into a state of antagonism,confusion,humiliation,frustration and hopelessness by the present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the new Prime Minister.
I have even been subjected to physical and psychological torture. As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in the country at the moment. You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money deposited by my husband in my name of which I have refuses to disclose or give up to the corrupt Palestine Government.
In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is in the tune of about $6.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting on their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Muslim community has no regards for woman, more importantly when the woman is from a christian background, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.
I have deposited the sum of 22.5 million dollars with a Financial firm in Europe whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement will be known to you and I alone and all our correspondence should be strictly on email alone because our government has tapped all my lines and are monitoring allmy moves.
In view of the above, if you are willing to assist for our mutual benefits,we will have to negotiate on your Percentage share of the $22.5,000,000 that will be kept in your position for a while and invested in your name for my trust pending when my Daughter, Zahwa, will come off age and take full responsibility of her Family Estate/inheritance.
Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes once in life time and more so, if you are honest, I am going to entrust more funds in your care as this is one of the legacy we keep for our children.
In case you don't accept please do not let me out to the security and international media as I am giving you this information in total trust and confidence I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good faith.
As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday. My name is JAIN HAGIS I am a merchant of Oman nationality but presently residing in london.I have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer .It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts.
I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone(not even myself)but my business. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on my business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world.
I believe when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that God has called me, I have willed and given most of my property and assets to my immediate and extended family members as well as a few close friends.
I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul so, I have decided to give alms to charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on earth. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations in the Oman, Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore.
I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and distribute the money which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria and Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves.
Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what I have left for them. The last of my money which no one knows of is the huge cash deposit of eighteen million dollars 18,000,000 that I have with HSBC bank in london. I will want you to help me collect this deposit and dispatche it to charity organizations.
HEY FRIEND i dont know who u are looking for and if you are on the correct site for this type of message, but if you are really in need of help, why dont you contact a lawyer to take care of your affairs, or is it that you dont trust them either, ? i mean not much people do but least think about it
Have the NJ police warned the good people of the state of the scam their legislators are planning. Seems the elected officials want to sell the lottory; get all that lottory money in one big pile.
What will the elected officials do after spending all the money they get for the Lottory? Retire to Florida? Probably.
In the case of the 84-year-old woman, her credit card company covered the loss and is not charging her, said James, who noted that is not typical.
Good thing for her !!!
Remember, if you didn't play, you didn't win !!!!!!!!
DD
HEY FOLKS: lets be careful now, i read about something online a few weeks back about getting paid to test video games and pc games for companies but to get paid you have to send in x-amount of dollers before you can get paid, these scams are everywhere, the first lady is lucky that her credit card company covered her loss, im sorry for the second one, however my only question is :you have cash / credit up to $25,000 dollers and you are told that you have to send this amount of money to so and so company to receive more money ? last time i checked , a bird in the hand was still worth more than two in the bush, am i wrong, ? or can i get an amen" any way this is whom im with :
does any one else agree , 
Hi Folks,
What do you do with leters like these? I get them so often, so far I deleted them? They are scam too? Can we report to any federal authorities.
Hary
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dear sir/madam,
I am Mrs. SUHA ARAFAT, the wife of YASSER ARAFAT, the Palestinian
leader who died recently in Paris. Since his death and even prior to
the announcement, I have been thrown into a state of
antagonism,confusion,humiliation,frustration and hopelessness by the
present leadership of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the
new Prime Minister.
I have even been subjected to physical and psychological torture. As a
widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with everybody in
the country at the moment. You must have heard over the media reports and
the Internet on the discovery of some fund in my husband secret bank
account and companies and the allegations of some huge sums of money
deposited by my husband in my name of which I have refuses to disclose or
give up to the corrupt Palestine Government.
In fact the total sum allegedly discovered by the Government so far is
in the tune of about $6.5 Billion Dollars. And they are not relenting on
their effort to make me poor for life. As you know, the Muslim
community has no regards for woman, more importantly when the woman is
from a christian background, hence my desire for a foreign assistance.
I have deposited the sum of 22.5 million dollars with a Financial firm
in Europe whose name is withheld for now until we open communication. I
shall be grateful if you could receive this fund into your bank account
for safe keeping and any Investment opportunity. This arrangement will be
known to you and I alone and all our correspondence should be strictly on
email alone because our government has tapped all my lines and are
monitoring allmy moves.
In view of the above, if you are willing to assist for our mutual
benefits,we will have to negotiate on your Percentage share of the
$22.5,000,000 that will be kept in your position for a while and invested
in your name for my trust pending when my Daughter, Zahwa, will come off
age and take full responsibility of her Family Estate/inheritance.
Please note that this is a golden opportunity that comes once in life
time and more so, if you are honest, I am going to entrust more funds
in your care as this is one of the legacy we keep for our children.
In case you don't accept please do not let me out to the security and
international media as I am giving you this information in total trust
and confidence I will greatly appreciate if you accept my proposal in good
faith.
Please expedite action.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Suha Arafat
-----------------------------------------------
Jain Hagis
Sultanate of Oman
reply to : jainhagis9191@yahoo.co.uk
Dear friend
As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I
believe everyone will die someday. My name is JAIN HAGIS I am a merchant
of Oman nationality but presently residing in london.I have been
diagnosed with Esophageal cancer .It has defiled all forms of medical
treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to
medical experts.
I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared
for anyone(not even myself)but my business. Though I am very rich, I
was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focused on my
business as that was the only thing I cared for. But now I regret all
this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have
or make all the money in the world.
I believe when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I
would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that God
has called me, I have willed and given most of my property and assets
to my immediate and extended family members as well as a few close
friends.
I want God to be merciful to me and accept my soul so, I have decided
to give alms to charity
organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on
earth. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations
in the Oman, Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has deteriorated
so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore.
I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and
distribute the money which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria
and Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves.
Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what
I
have left for them. The last of my money which no one knows of is the
huge cash deposit of eighteen million dollars 18,000,000 that I have
with HSBC bank in london. I will want you to help me
collect this deposit and dispatche it to charity organizations.
Get back to me through my private emai : jainhagis9191@yahoo.co.uk
I have set aside 20% for you and for your time.
God be with you,
JAIN HAGIS.
WILL LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU.
HEY FRIEND i dont know who u are looking for and if you are on the correct site for this type of message, but if you are really in need of help, why dont you contact a lawyer to take care of your affairs, or is it that you dont trust them either, ? i mean not much people do but least think about it
Have the NJ police warned the good people of the state of the scam their legislators are planning. Seems the elected officials want to sell the lottory; get all that lottory money in one big pile.
What will the elected officials do after spending all the money they get for the Lottory? Retire to Florida? Probably.