Foreign lottery schemes can scam people out of thousands

U.S. Postal Inspectors say it's a phone scam that is on the rise across the nation.

"I grew up in a time when you could believe people... and they sounded so serious and truthful - it really had me going," said Ray Gibbs, Fraud Victim. He is talking about the phone call he received informing him he was the winner of $250-thousand and a new Mercedes. "I needed to send them some money to ensure the check got here okay, and so I did that."

And once he did, there were more phone calls asking for more money, again and again. "And boy, they are smooth talkers. They know what you want to hear in order to get the money out of you," said Gibbs.

"These schemes and these fraudsters are very prolific. They don't stop. And once you get on one of these lists you're going to continue to receive these solicitations," said Joe Stephenson, US Postal Inspector.

Authorities estimate ray lost $12-thousand in this foreign lottery scheme. But astute post office employees called inspectors when they saw Ray came in again with a package. That's when they intercepted the package and returned $5-thousand dollars.

"It was very gratifying to return that money to him, you know he didn't have that type of money, this was his retirement savings," said Stephenson.

Don't forget this important piece of information: no legitimate lottery will ask you for money up-front. Keep that in mind when you receive calls, letters in the mail.