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Kelowna  

Lottery scam: Not a winner


It turns out a Kelowna senior is not a winner, after they were caught up in a Publishers Clearing House scam.

The 76-year-old reviewed a letter from the giant magazine marketer, which indicated she was a winner of their Lottery Awards Program.

However Cst. Kris Clark says when the woman called the telephone number provided to collect her winnings, she was tricked into answering several questions that compromised her bank account.

“She was told that a deposit of $5,000 had been made into her account, which she quickly confirmed. As it turns out, the letter was fraudulent and connected the woman with scammers.”

The questions she answered had compromised her personal banking information and the ‘deposit’ was actually a transfer from one of her other accounts.  

“In the process, the fraudsters also conveniently withdrew some money for themselves,” says Clark.

The woman has since taken the appropriate steps to protect her finances.

Clark would like to remind the public that it's important to understand that you cannot win a lottery without first buying a ticket or entering the sweepstakes.

“Tickets for foreign lotteries must be purchased in the country of origin and no one can buy one on your behalf. Lottery award winners are not randomly selected from the white pages,” he explains.

For more information on frauds and scams click here.



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