Lottery Scam Warning Issued

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is warning of a would-be scam artist who pretended to be the attorney general. Edmondson says a woman reported she received a phone call

Tuesday, August 7th 2007, 10:51 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is warning of a would-be scam artist who pretended to be the attorney general. Edmondson says a woman reported she received a phone call telling her she won $800,000 in a Reader's Digest lottery and should immediately wire $1,200 in taxes to an address in Canada.

The woman then got a second call from a man claiming to be Edmondson who told her she would get the winnings after sending the $1,200.

The woman became suspicious when the imposter couldn't tell her if he was a Republican or a Democrat and she sent no money but called the attorney general's office.

News release from AG's office:

If Attorney General Drew Edmondson calls to verify that youâ€™ve won the lottery, you can bet youâ€™re the target of scam.

Edmondson issued a consumer alert today after his office received a complaint from a consumer who was notified she had won $800,000 in a Readerâ€™s Digest lottery. She then received a call from someone purporting to be Attorney General Edmondson, who said he could verify the legitimacy of her winnings.

â€œThe consumer was notified by phone that she had won this huge sum of money and that she needed to immediately wire $1,200 in taxes to Canada,â€
Edmondson said. â€œShe subsequently received a call from someone who pretended to be me, who told her if she would send the money, she would receive her winnings.â€

The woman became suspicious when the attorney general imposter could not tell her if he was a Republican or a Democrat. She did not send any money but instead reported the scam to the attorney generalâ€™s office.

â€œThis office has worked hard to advocate for consumers, so it bothers me a great deal that someone would use my name in this way,â€ Edmondson said. â€œWe are investigating this scam, and if we are able to track this con man down, itâ€™s a sure bet he will get more than a call from the attorney generalâ€™s office; he will get to meet one of our investigators face to face.â€

Edmondson said he does not make calls to verify sweepstakes winnings, but he said consumers can call his officeâ€™s Consumer Protection Unit if they suspect they may have been victimized. The Consumer Protection Unit has statewide jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations of the stateâ€™s Consumer Protection Act. Anyone with information regarding suspected fraud or scams can contact the attorney generalâ€™s consumer protection hotline at (405) 521-2029.