Special agents and D.A. return $20,000 to victim of lottery scam

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 posted 03:30 AM EST

Thanks to the efforts of the Butte County District Attorney's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, an Oroville resident has recovered a portion of $300,000 he lost to scammers.

An elderly Oroville man victimized by con artists in Canada thanked the Butte County District Attorney's Office and special agents of the ICE for returning $20,000, out of $300,000 lost, at a press conference in the D.A.'s office Tuesday.

The identity of the man was not released, and District Attorney Mike Ramsey said, "The money returned to him was sadly only a part of substantial amount of money the 74-year-old man had lost to Canadian scammers between September and December 2005."

The scammers had first sent the elderly victim an announcement in the mail promising a sum of $2 million in winnings from the Canadian lottery.

"This doesn't just happen in other places. It happens right here in Northern California and here in Oroville," Ramsey said. "These parasites out there prey on the senior population and they're very good at it. The best defense is prevention. Get the word out. There is no Canadian lottery. There is no Nigerian Prince who wants to give you his money and come to the United States."

"As we have always said, 'if it sounds too good to be true, it is,' " Ramsey added.

Educating people not to respond to these scammers is vital, Ramsey said. "We want the scammers to know that a 530 area code is not a productive number. Spread the word and we'll dry up this area."

"The ploy used on the Oroville victim is a common one employed by telemarketing fraudsters. The victim was told to obtain his lottery windfall, he would have to forward 'processing' payments to the scammers. Every time the victim would send money to the scammers, they would call back and use various excuses that more money was required to obtain his lottery millions," ICE Special Agent Rick Eaton said.

The victim sent increasing amounts of money until a relative notified the District Attorney's Office and tipped them off to what was happening. The victim had lost $300,000 before finding out there was no Canadian lottery.

Investigator Jos Van Hout from the D.A.'s Economic Crime Investigation Unit contacted the victim and discovered he had just mailed off another $20,000 in cash to the Canadian scammers. Van Hout contacted the Center of Operations Linked to Telemarketing (COLT) who targets telemarketing fraudsters.

COLT is a multi-agency involving ICE, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service.

"The elderly victim had sent two separate packages of $10,000 each in $20 bills to these scammers in the mail," Ramsey said. Canadian officials were able to locate and seize the packages containing the cash in Canada before they were delivered to the scammers.

At Tuesday's press conference, ICE Special Agent Mark Schafer gave a $20,000 check to Ramsey, who presented it to the victim.

"Our goal is to get the money back to the victim and we couldn't have done this without the hard work of the Butte County District Attorney's Office," Schafer said. "We receive about one report a week about these kinds of scams."

"Sir, we are very happy to give you back your $20,000," Ramsey said, as he handed the check to the victim, who replied, "Thank you. They get you for everything and hit the hardest when you're not aware of it. Boy, they are really ready to take your money," he said.

Ramsey played a taped recorded conversation between the scammer and victim. "The tape illustrates how the scammer becomes more abusive and pushes for more and more money until they drain 'em dry," Ramsey said. The investigators also found out the scammers sold the victim's telephone number to a "sucker's list" and he began receiving other scammer-type calls until he disconnected his phone number.

Before sending any money to telemarketers, ICE urges the public to contact the Project COLT toll-free hotline at: 1-888-495-8501. For more information, see the COLT Website at: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/qc/pro_ser/delits_e.htm

Ramsey said people can also call his office's toll-free hotline at 1-866-DA FRAUD and visit his website: www.buttecounty.net/da.

The ICE was formed in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibility for a number of key homeland security priorities.

The Butte County District Attorney's Economic Crime Unit was established is March 2005 through funding from the Butte County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Special Fund in partnership with the Concow-Maidu Mooretown and the Tyme-Maidu Berry Creek rancherias.

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