This column has covered many different kinds of scams in the past 13 years. Among them are the grandparents scam, the jury-duty scam, the IRS scam, the gift-card scam, and the banker-impersonator scam.
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Sometimes, the evolving confidence games borrow elements from each other — such as a banker-impersonator who induces people to buy thousands worth of gift cards without telling anyone — as part of “a fraud investigation.”
The very first scam this column ever broached was the sweepstakes scam, and that was back in 2012. Alas, it’s still happening both in Virginia and the United States. The Better Business Bureau says that scam has been around the longest, and that it’s gotten worse in the past four years.
Here’s how didn’t work back in 2012 on Hugh Elliott.
Then 77, Elliott received a letter at his northeast Roanoke home stamped “Royal Mail.”
It informed him he’d won $150,000 in in the “UK & North American Shoppers Sweepstakes” sponsored by The National Lottery Inc.
Elliott could not recall entering such a contest. But the scammers had that base covered, too.
“You have won this prize by shopping in one or more of the selected stores in North America:…
