Sedona AZ (July 31, 2013) – An elderly Prescott man fell victim to four counts of alleged fraud over a week long period in mid-July. The victim, 82, told Prescott police he was contacted four separate times over a single week by individuals who claimed to work for American Sweepstakes. The victim allegedly mailed a cashier’s check for $2,500 after the initial contact, but never received the $750,000 promised to him.
On another occasion, the victim offered up details of his credit card after he was promised access to $2 million, according to police.
On a third occasion, the victim purchased $700 in prepaid cards that he gave to a man who called him and claimed to be with the Internal Revenue Service. That individual told the victim he could not release his sweepstakes winnings until he paid him.
On a fourth occasion, the victim wired $350 to an individual in California after an individual claiming to be with American Sweepstakes told him he had a check for $2 million in the victim’s name, a black Mercedes and a suitcase containing $500,000 in cash.
In all cases, the victim never received any money. In all, he paid out $6,050, according to police.
Investigators called one of the numbers given to the victim for American Sweepstakes and was promptly disconnected when the officer identified himself. The area code for the number, according to Prescott police, was identified as a location in Jamaica.
Further investigation by Prescott police indicated a generic American Sweepstakes website and several online reports of others who had also been scammed.
“Remember that you can’t win if you did not buy a ticket!” said Community Relations Specialist Anthony Palermo of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
If you have been a victim of a scam or a fraud or have concerns about attempts to obtain funds from you with promises of money or winnings, step forward to help yourself and others. Greed is the key scammers and fraudsters use to get into your wallet and bank accounts with promises of easy money.
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Greed is a terrible thing.
This long distance phone scam causes consumers to inadvertently incur high charges on their phone bills. You will usually receive a phone message or e-mail telling them to call a phone number with an 809, 284, 649, or 876 area code in order to collect a prize, find out information about a sick relative, etc. The caller assumes the number is a typical three-digit U.S. area code; however, the caller is actually connected to a phone number outside the United States, often in Canada or the Caribbean, and charged international call rates.
Unfortunately, consumers don’t find out that they have been charged higher international call rates until they receive their bill.
These charges can be in the $2000.00 range for 1 minute.
Please be aware and follow these tips to help avoid the 809 area code scam:
•Return calls to familiar numbers only. As a general rule, return calls from numbers that contain familiar or recognizable area codes. You may call your directory assistance or long distance operator to check the area code location, or look on line. Just type in your search page “area code (then the number)”
•Carefully read your telephone bill. Make sure that you only receive charges from your provider of choice. Ensure you thoroughly understand charges listed on your phone bill, have chosen to do business with all of the listed providers billing for those charges and have authorized additional fees invoiced.
If you believe that you have been scammed:
•Contact the carrier with whom the charge originated, whose name and toll-free telephone number should be printed on the same bill page as the charge in question. Often, the problem can be resolved with a single phone call.
•If the carrier with whom the charge originated does not agree to resolve the problem, contact your local phone company who should work with you and the carrier to help remove fraudulent charges from the phone bill.
Anthony J. (Tony) Palermo CCPS
Community Relations Specialist
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
255 E. Gurley Street
Prescott, AZ 86301
anthony.palermo@yavapai.us
I had a call on 25 Feb 16 from American Sweepstake with the pitch for $750K won. I told the guy who called himself Jim Kingston to “Go to Hell” and worse! The phone number he called from on the caller ID was (206) 488-5929. Can’t something be done by the federal gov’t to shut this outfit down, along with the Grandparents Scam and the bogus calls saying the Internal Revenue is about to sue? My wife and I get these calls all the time and are quite irritated about it. John Leland, O’Fallon, IL
was contacted and told we won 450,000 but thy were trying ti contact us for 6 weeks but couldn’t reach us so now the insurance that covered the prize money insurancewas expired and in order for us to get our prize of 450,000 we needed to insure the amount for the currier to deliver it, to us. then i asked how much insurance cost to insure it they wanted 4,500.00 they would put it in escrow and we would get it back when prize was delivered. They said prudential insurance would insure it, but I called prudential and asked if they did insure prize winnings and they said they said no and they tried to tell me also that their idenfication was a insured govenrment laison with the Dept. of Commerce I told them to let the money go to the dept. of revenue I didn’t have 4,500.00. I knew it was a scam. 7/19/2016