Police have revealed that an elderly man from south west Scotland has lost his home to a foreign lottery scam.
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary made a renewed appeal to the public to be aware of the danger of bogus letters.
They said two people in the region had recently lost significant sums of money — with one of them actually ending up losing his own property as a result.
Police warned the public never to give out bank details to anyone offering to give them significant lottery winnings.
The region's Fraud and Financial Investigation Unit has issued numerous warnings about such scams.
However, it confirmed three people in the region had recently been taken in.
'Ignore scams'
One person did not part with any cash but the other two, both of whom were elderly, lost significant sums of money.
Det. Sgt. Billy Thomson said: "These scams are usually operated from outwith the UK and are nearly always impossible to investigate.
"We are stressing to the public to ignore these lottery scams and report them to the police.
"On no account should personal bank details be released to these individuals."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I cant believe how many people fall for these internet scams, i get at least 5 emails daily about everything from im "OWED MONEY" because a relative died in some plane crash, or ive won the british lottery, or some other scam line. In every email it is the same...MY NAME, MY ADDRESS, TOWN, BANK ACCT... They say they always have some CHECK "PAY TO THE ORDER OF" In my name...yeah right.... Hey stupid wake up and smell the freaken coffee!!!!!!!!! IF THEY HAVE A CHECK FOR ME, TRY THE US POSTAL SERVICE...i have the gas to drive to the bank and deposit it....GOD HELP THOSE WHO CANT FIGURE OUT THESE SCAMMERS WHO ARE FROM NIGERIA, and they use internet cafes so they never have the same I.P addy, plus they close out these free internet accounts everyday and start a new one tommorrow... Too bad there are soo many stupid people out there keeping them driving in luxury cars and eating cavaier.......IM NOT THAT STUPID!!!!!!
I already tried tricking these <snip>s by pretending to go along with their scam. When they asked me to send them some money via Western Union, I went to the local Western Union store here and got a form, scanned it in, and Photoshopped it with some very juicy information, then sent them that new scan. I think they fell for it many times, since they reportedly went to there local Western Union to try to retrieve the money but were then kicked out of the store. Suckers! They're really not too bright.
The better thing to do is to scam the scammer themselves,this one guy got $80 USD from a scammer.
Yeah, I can't believe how many people still fall for this stuff, this kind of thing was going on before the internet even with grifters going from town to town pulling scams. Seriously, if these people somehow can find your private e-mail address with probably NOTHING to go on then they should be able to find a mailing address.
Can't win something if you did not purchase a ticket for a chance. Never had money given to me from a dead relative, so i don't know how it goes, but I am sure the company or law firm who help stored the will should identify themselves, and use that info in google for background check. :)
there is something to be said about the elderly. Most of them did not grow up "cunning" or "savvy" as most of us today. My grandmother was always partial to hard luck stories and would part with money. She was not taught to challendg somone who may lie. She would ask "Why would God do that to me", "This is a test from God". What saved her was my mother who had power of attorny over her affairs. And she partner with an officer in the small bank My grandmother recalled the days when you could buy food for 5cents(she was born in 1907 and died in 2006). She would not have been able to comprehend that a home that she owned free and clear was worth 250K. Just as she did not watch anything else but religous channels, she did not completely comprehend why someone would steal from her. Think of the youth today...some are very careless and want fun but 2 generations ago life did not change, there was not a lot of access and mobility. I know one thing my grandmother did not understand credit cards.
I am sorry for the elderlay man who lost his home. Not all people have one or two people to protect their financial interest.
Think about it. Nowadays cars change every 2 years...back then the model cycles for cars lasted 10-15 years with maybe a change in paint choices and whether or not you wanted a radio. My grandmother never drove and she did not always understand the importance of seatbelts.
Hope+Greed = Scammed again and again
"The youth of today"? You know the same thing is said by every generation of the generations that follow them. It's not nearly as different as many think, just the older you get the more you forget and more you see things through rose colored glasses. The problem here is ignorance and any generation is susceptible to that. BTW, the car thing is something that started to change in the 60s when the automotive industry started to try and change their business model if I remember correctly, maybe the 70s. It's no coincidence that's also around the time their decline started.
Didnt quite get how the folks were scammed. the details were hazy at best. How a house can be taken is beyond my comprehension since the news report left out the details. Will say that losing ones home doesnt always take a scammer, our wonderful mortage system has shown proof of that.
Sometimes it takes a negative situation to bring about some positive wisdom.
Gosh, I don't remember the original site but there are several out there, though it was to protect the elderly from the nigerian scammers. It wanted people to think of a great reply to such e-mails by starting with I was hoping this day would come, blah blah blah.. well enough to fill at least three (I did 6) pages. Save such replies in notepad or what ever and send a dozen returns, not all at once. If every one did this it would fill their boxes and they would have to spend a good amount of time sorting to open the boxes for more mail. And if they reply send about three dozen more of a more lengthy (but worthless) letters. The site quoted that these scammers pay (The nigerians usally go to internet cafes that charge heavily for large accounts) to open these accounts. And they only have so much time to browse the net or mail accounts. It may not stop them but it slows them down and may protect an elderly one, and all you do is cut and paste a reply. Besides it fun creating a return letter, though it took me quite a bit of time because I was laughing so hard.
They said two people in the region had recently lost significant sums of money — with one of them actually ending up losing his own property as a result.
The theft/loss left him unable to meet the payments, taxes, etc.
BobP