St. Lucie sheriff: Beware lottery scam

Monday, October 16, 2006 posted 09:57 AM EDT

FORT PIERCE — Irish Lottery, Wild Life Wins Games International Programs, Rand Intranet Sweepstakes and European International Lottery Programs.

These are the same scam, just with different names.

That's the message local law-enforcement officials are telling St. Lucie County residents who may be receiving letters in their mailboxes claiming they have won an international lottery.

"It's been unusually busy lately" with lottery scams, said Deputy Gary Gonsalves of the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office crime prevention unit. "Our neighborhood watch members are letting us know about several similar mailings they have received lately."

A recent rash of international lottery scams has been creeping into residents' mailboxes, and authorities want to warn residents of the scams before they fall victim.

Most of them look official with professional letterheads, contact numbers and even a fake history of the lottery.

The letters state the recipient has won some sort of lottery — usually from another country — and urge the "winner" to immediately deposit a provided check into a personal bank account to clear taxes and other fees.

But once deposited, the scammers have access to the bank account number and can drain the funds from it. Plus, the provided check will bounce, leaving the resident with nothing.

"I've been doing this for 22 years,, and each year the scammers get better and better," said Gonsalves. "I think people do it because everyone has a little greed in them."

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