Wellington County OPP is once again reminding county residents about lottery/sweepstakes/contest scams.
OPP were recently contacted by a victim of fraud who received a message via Facebook about winning $150,000.
The victim did not enter any contest, but still sent over $2,000 in three different installments in order to claim her prize.
The complainant became alerted when she was contacted by Western Union and advised the P.O. box she was sending money to was flagged for fraud.
Remember: legitimate lotteries do not require you to pay a fee or tax to collect winnings.
The OPP has seen an increase in calls from members of the public about contest/lottery scams, grandparent scams, phishing scams etc.
Protect yourself
Don’t accept anything at face value; if it sounds unlikely or too good to be true, it probably is.
Never send money to anybody you don’t know and trust.
You cannot win money or a prize in a lottery unless you have entered it yourself or someone has entered it on your behalf.
You cannot be chosen as a random winner if you don’t have an entry.
Act quickly, contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or www.antifraudcentre.ca and stop scammers in their tracks.
Don’t be a victim, police warn. Fraud is a multi-billion dollar enterprise that will only stop when the scammers stop getting money, banking information and/or personal information from victims.
