Full Notification

Lake Lure Police Department received a message from the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department we'd like to pass on:

To the citizens of Rutherford County; beware that there is a possible phone scam attempting to be perpetrating across the County.

Several citizens have reported receiving a phone call from a male claiming to be with Publisher’s Clearing House and informing the citizen that they had won money. The area code was 876.

In order to collect “your winnings”, you are instructed to go to Wal-Mart, Target or some other money transfer business to purchase a “Green Dot MoneyPak “card and load the card with a specified amount of money. After you have purchased the ‘Green Dot MoneyPak” card, the caller wants you to call them back and provide the claim number off of the ‘Green Dot MoneyPak” card. Once the caller has this information, they are able to withdraw the amount of money you have placed on the card, leaving you without.

Green Dot MoneyPak cards are reloadable and available at most retail outlets throughout the country and, like money wire transfers, are just as untraceable. These cards are not associated with any bank, meaning that the money is in the card. Users of these Green Dot MoneyPak cards are reminded to never give anyone those numbers associated with those cards in that doing so gives them instant access to the money on those cards.
http://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-releases/2013/fbi-atlanta-warns-consumers-of-green-dot-moneypak-scam

DON’T BE A VICTIM
Signs to watch for:
• Strange phone calls, especially out-of-country calls
• Mentioning a lottery or sweepstakes
• Requests to send money
• Unusual secrecy
• Lots of mail

In addition to believing the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” here are some FTC tips to avoid becoming a victim:
• Don’t send money to someone you don’t know, and don’t ever send cash.
• Don’t agree to deposit a check and wire money back.
• Don’t reply to messages asking for personal or financial information.
• Don’t play a foreign lottery.

Remember, you can’t win a contest you didn’t enter. And playing a lottery in a foreign country is illegal for U.S. citizens.
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0086-international-lottery-scams

If you have been the victim of a Scam, contact your local law enforcement agency.