Scammers are affiliating themselves with the national Mega Millions lottery and targeting people through the phone and mail.
A Jacksonville resident named Dorothy — who asked that we not use her last name — says she was contacted in May.
“I received this letter saying that I had won $4.5 million in the ‘Mega Lottery Picker 2017,’” she said. “I knew it was a scam from the beginning, so I threw the letter away.”
The letter instructed Dorothy to collect her winnings at an office in Madrid, Spain, or she could receive the funds through a wire transfer if she provided her bank account information.
Dorothy says the scammers have also been calling multiple times a week, attempting to collect other private information.
“Every time they called me I would tell them I’m not interested,” she said. “The calls would come every other day or three or four times a week.”
Dorothy says despite her unwillingness to cooperate, the scammers have been relentless, even asking for money to cover transaction and delivery fees.
On its website, the Mega Millions lottery says it is aware of the scheme and urges would-be victims to file complaints with the Federal Trade Commission.
Matthew Farina can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org and on Twitter at @themaddyice.
