Fake lottery ticket costs New Mexico man $25,000

Jun 13, 2007, 9:46 am (11 comments)

Insider Buzz

A Las Cruces, New Mexico, man was conned out of $25,000 by two men who claimed to have a winning lottery ticket.

The men were selling the "winning" ticket because they were unable to claim the cash prize as a result of not being in the United States legally.

The 80-year-old victim stated he was approached by the two men Friday, June 8, outside the Wal-Mart on Walton Blvd.

The suspects allegedly talked the victim into withdrawing $25,000 from his bank account in exchange for a lottery ticket worth an estimated $553,000.

According to the man, a third suspect posed as an election official and confirmed the ticket was legit over the phone.

The man told authorities he and the suspects were going to go to Albuquerque to claim the lottery winnings. The suspects asked to stop at the Walgreens on Main St. to buy medicine.

Once they entered the store, the suspects vanished and have not been seen since.

The victim described one of the suspects as Hispanic, short and heavy-set, in his 30s. The other suspect is described as Hispanic, tall and slim, and around 40 years old.

The Las Cruces Police Department warns residents to be aware of such scams and to use caution when approached with any offer.

Anyone with information on this case, or any similar incident, is asked to contact the Las Cruces Police Department at (505) 526-0795.

KVIA

Tags for this story

Other popular tags

Comments

spy153's avatarspy153

poor guy never stood a chance. The elderly are being targeted for a reason, aren't they? Seems most who fall for this type of scam are elderly folk.

Guru101's avatarGuru101

He should have used common sense.

DoubleDown

Quote: Originally posted by Guru101 on Jun 13, 2007

He should have used common sense.

That's the problem, Guru- they never do. They get blinded with dollar signs and never put 2 and 2 together. This happens much more than we even know- a lot of it goes unreported...

HiYoSilver

This is the type of scam I worry an elderly relative of mine would fall for. The poor guy has spent so much money trying to get rich that had he saved it he would be.

He once spent close to ten grand trying to get an invention made in China. 2 years later we saw it in an auto store and everyone he tried to contact over there had never heard of him. A lawyer then took him for another 2 grand before he finally gave up.

jeffrey's avatarjeffrey

Quote: Originally posted by HiYoSilver on Jun 13, 2007

This is the type of scam I worry an elderly relative of mine would fall for. The poor guy has spent so much money trying to get rich that had he saved it he would be.

He once spent close to ten grand trying to get an invention made in China. 2 years later we saw it in an auto store and everyone he tried to contact over there had never heard of him. A lawyer then took him for another 2 grand before he finally gave up.

Never send anything innovative to China. They are thieves and will beat you to the distribution. I am beginning to think that people who fall for this scam need to wake up.

JackpotWanna's avatarJackpotWanna

Ouch! $25,000  That got to hurt!  When something sounds too good to be true.  It usually is a scam.   

psykomo's avatarpsykomo

Quote: Originally posted by HiYoSilver on Jun 13, 2007

This is the type of scam I worry an elderly relative of mine would fall for. The poor guy has spent so much money trying to get rich that had he saved it he would be.

He once spent close to ten grand trying to get an invention made in China. 2 years later we saw it in an auto store and everyone he tried to contact over there had never heard of him. A lawyer then took him for another 2 grand before he finally gave up.

L@@K's like customers & Wal-Mart.....is AH

ChairChairTARGET>>Dupe AlertDupe Alert

THESE>>>>>DAY's & this is just another sorry EXAMPLE of Oh, Oh,

I am so sorry it happened to this pour, pour, 80..year old PERSON!

Maby, just>>MABY?????>>HE was not GREEDY, but try'g to>>

HELP these citizen's collect their money?????????????????????

Maby, they told him they had a sick (CHILD) in the hospital &

needed to have a hip replacement or the child would "never"

walk??????again??????unless, they got $25,000>>PRONTO!!

WHO?????KNOW's???? (they long gone w/man's LIFE sav'in)

In my HOOD>>>>>>>>>last week........woman got pocketbook........SNACHED!!!!!

at the local Wal-Mart.....................................................................22222222!!!!!

It happen's rather OFTEN & they say it was a dark complected MAN or

I saw on TV (DON'T watch TV)!!!!!!!!!!!......it was a 6^ man dressed woman!

ALL this STUFF "HAPPEN's @@@@  "Wal-MART "

Nutt'in excit'in..ever<never

 happen's...@@@TARGETParty

SORRY>>>>>>>ABOUT>>>>>>>>>>>>>THATParty

PSYKOMO waiting fer JACKPOT (made in china)$$$

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by HiYoSilver on Jun 13, 2007

This is the type of scam I worry an elderly relative of mine would fall for. The poor guy has spent so much money trying to get rich that had he saved it he would be.

He once spent close to ten grand trying to get an invention made in China. 2 years later we saw it in an auto store and everyone he tried to contact over there had never heard of him. A lawyer then took him for another 2 grand before he finally gave up.

I worked with a guy that wasn't that old who had a similar experience.  He designed a microwave bacon cooking device but he didn't know where to go until he saw a TV commercial for a company that helped (took advantage of) inventors.  He sent for their information and then sent them $2K to do a patent search and after they assured him his idea was totally new he sent another $2K for engineering and making drawings to apply for a patent.  Later they informed him that it was more important to get his product to market even before the patent process was completed so he sent them another $2K to start negotiations with companies in the far east to make it.  When he saw a story on CBS 60 minutes about a guy and his son going to Hormel meats with a similar idea and it was going to be in stores in a few weeks, he wised up and stopped sending money.

Today he could do a patent search at Google for free in about 10 seconds, down load a PDF file of the drawings and would know if he had an idea worth pursuing before spending a penny.

LckyLary

Being here illegally? That excuse won't fly soon, if the politicians get their way and we have Amnesty. In the meantime, all you do is whip out your cell phone if you have one on you and pretend to be calling the INS and see how they react! Every Lottery agent needs to have plenty of pamphlets on hand to educate people. People who already know about the scam usually won't fall for it.

RJOh's avatarRJOh

Quote: Originally posted by LckyLary on Jun 16, 2007

Being here illegally? That excuse won't fly soon, if the politicians get their way and we have Amnesty. In the meantime, all you do is whip out your cell phone if you have one on you and pretend to be calling the INS and see how they react! Every Lottery agent needs to have plenty of pamphlets on hand to educate people. People who already know about the scam usually won't fall for it.

A pamphlet about scams isn't going help anyone who believes he can make some easy money by buying a lottery ticket worth $553,000 from someone for $25,000.  I wouldn't fall for that even if I knew the person. 

On Judge Judy show, I've seen several people who got scammed by people they knew(so called friends) who asked them to cash and share a lottery check they received through the mail.  In every case the victims thought they were going to make some easy money and help someone.

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

I agree with you, RJOh.  At first I was going to write that the government should include a warning with social security checks, but I also think seniors get a bad rap. Most people I know over 65 are still working and are very sharp.  We all get forgetful and have our blonde moments.  However, someone who thinks "Wow. This is a great deal!" without using common sense, can be 25 or 85. 

Statistics show that most of the net worth in this country belongs to people in the over 60 bracket, so this could also make them a target. I'm not saying there aren't many elderly people struggling to make ends meet.  However, this indicates that younger people, even those with good jobs, are starting out buying homes, paying college loans, having babies, etc.  Money they are putting away for retirement is usually tied up in a CD or a qualified retirement plan like an IRA, which means it's not easily accessible. Many people who are retired have a small nestegg they are living on to supplement social security.  Just a thought.

BTW - I had a neighbor who was (and still is) an idiot. I usually don't say that about someone, but he'd knock on my door almost every night to tell me some outrageous story about his life.  He finally bought a home and moved. I was thrilled.  But now he's sharing a small 2 room apartment around the corner.  According to him, he purchased a townhouse that was was condemned. When I asked "Did you use a real estate attorney?" and "Did you have it inspected? Who represented you?" his answer was "The real estate agent who had the ad in the paper worked for Century 21. I see their ads on TV so I figured he's okay."  He recently knocked on my door to ask me how to get back his repossessed car. How would I know?  (pay your bill? duh?) He claims he gave $350 cash to his live-in girlfriend every month to send in the payment, which she apparently wasn't doing.  I never know if any of this is true, but he's only in his 40s.  A couple of weeks ago they got engaged. When I read about these scams, I always expect to see his name as the victim.  Yup, Ron, you can't fix stupid.

End of comments
Subscribe to this news story
Guest