Stuart’s Draft man defrauded of $24,093 in lotto scam

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: April 30, 2008

A 90-year-old Stuart’s Draft man lost $24,093 over the last two weeks in a lottery scam, police said.
After receiving a telephone call advising him he had won $2 million dollars, the man was persuaded to wire money on over 16 occasions to various individuals, police said.
The names used by the recipients of the wired money may be fictitious, and recovery of the funds is unlikely, police said.
The fraud was reported yesterday at 10:44 a.m.
Lottery scammers - often based in Canada, Jamaica and Africa - are using phone calls, email and direct mail to target an increasing number of area residents, particularly the elderly, according to an Augusta County Sheriff’s Department media release.