URBANA — Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh is warning area residents about the dangers of a telephone scam that cost a county woman nearly $90,000.
Walsh said on Tuesday afternoon that the woman received telephone calls saying she won a lottery, but she needed to advance fees before she could receive the “prize.”
Walsh said the woman sent almost $90,000 to another country over several months before she reported the incident to police.
“We found out about this toward the end of January, and it came to my attention,” Walsh said.
Walsh said scammers frequently contact their victims by telephone, e-mail or regular mail.
“Sometimes the version is they won or have a lot of money in a foreign country but need your money to make things work,” Walsh said. “Of course, you will get rich when they share their money with you. No you won’t. It’s a scam!”
Walsh said another common scam involves somebody offering to purchase a local resident’s item on eBay using a bad check for more than the price, with the seller sending back the difference with a good check.
Walsh said the sheriff’s office frequently refer reports of people being scammed to the FBI, but he said these matters often fail to meet the FBI’s criteria for an investigation.
“And finding the guilty party is next to impossible,” Walsh said.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services