Police are warning residents to beware of scams over the telephone after scammers attempted to get a Gorham woman to send money to claim fictitious lottery winnings.
Donna Walters called police Thursday after being notified by telephone that she had won $2.5 million but would have to pay $399 by Western Union before getting a check. Gorham Police Officer David Kearns investigated after the Maine State Police transferred her call to the Gorham police.
On Thursday, Walters said a man with an accent, who identified himself as from International Winners Sweepstakes in Montego Bay, Jamaica, gave Walters a telephone number to call for details about receiving the cash bonanza.
When she didn’t call, the man phoned again. “He called back and said this is important. You’ve got to call it right away,” she was told.
She called the number not knowing it was outside the country. Besides her phone number, she learned those who contacted her also had her updated street address, even though it had recently changed. She hadn’t participated in any sweepstakes. “I signed up for nothing,” Walters said she told them.
But she was given a variety of reasons how she might have won. “They were very convincing,” Walters said.
She was also assured that the taxes on the money had been paid. But besides the $399, she would be required to donate one percent to a Hurricane Katrina relief fund and another one percent to a charity of her choice. She was promised a check would be delivered to her home Thursday afternoon and TV cameras would be there.
She didn’t agree to send money. “Beware, question it before you make any moves,” Walters warned others.
The callers were persistent. Later Thursday afternoon, a woman who didn’t have an accent called Walters saying a check was waiting for her. “I’ve been waiting all day to bring you this, OK,” Walters said the woman told her.
They were “very pushy” about getting it done, Walters said. She was suspicious when the callers wanted the $399 upfront.
Kearns advised others receiving similar calls to report them immediately to police. “First I’ve heard about it,” Kearns said.
The calls upset Walters. “I want people to know what I went through because tomorrow it could be them,” she said, worrying that others could be victimized.
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