Rosenberg Police Say Con Artists Are Pushing Lottery Scam

Sunday, April 16, 2006 posted 04:45 AM EDT

Con artists are at work in Rosenberg, as police say they’ve had reports of several scam attempts over the past few weeks.

Police say several residents, mostly senior citizens, have been approached and asked to hold a lottery ticket on behalf of a stranger.

The scammer says he or she “can not cash the lotto ticket for various reasons, and wants to exchange the ticket for cash from the victim,” according to a statement by the Rosenberg Police Department. Police said there are several variations of the scam, and often victims are approached at grocery stores.

Police also said several versions of a well-known Internet email con, known as the “Nigerian scam,” have circulated in the area.

“An e-mail is presently circulating stating the recipient is the long lost relative of a person who recently died in another country,” police said in a statement. “The writer represents himself as an attorney who has been retained by the courts to track down the heirs to the inheritance.

“The victim is asked to send a certain amount of money to cover the attorney’s expenses. After the money is sent to a country outside the United States, the victim never receives any of the supposed inheritance and the victim is out the money mailed to the letter writer.”

Police are advising citizens that “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The Rosenberg Police Department is asking that anyone suspecting they’ve been approached by a con artist, contact the department at 832-595-3700.

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