Recent Scams

For more infromation on Jamaican Lottery Scams, click here to watch a video. 

January, 2009
A Bethalto woman received a letter from "Capital Trust & Finance" advising that she had won $250,000.  Included was a check from "American Sirius Inc." in the amount of $4,920.  The letter states that the check is to cover the cost of the tax on the woman's winnings.  She was to deposit the check, and then send $4,920 in cash by wire transfer to a third party.  The check is bogus, and there is no prize money.  The letter was mailed from Canada.

March, 2009
A Bethalto man received a letter from HSBC Financial advising that the company represents Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot and Safeway.  The letter claimed that HSBC Financial had "Consumer Promotion Draw" boxes in these stores, and that the man's name had been drawn for a winning of $250,000.  To claim his money, the man had to pay a tax of $3,900  via Money Gram.  A check from Assistive Technology Resources drawn on State Bank of Texas was included in the sum of $4,900.  The man was to deposit the $4,900 and then wire $3,900 to a location to be determined later.  The check was bogus, the letter is fraudulent and another example of the Canadian Lottery scam.

April, 2009
Two area women had been targeted by a Canadian Lottery scam.  They knew that this was a scam, and they tried cashing the accompanying check at several locations.  They were successful with a local business.  The business was fooled by the high quality of the check, and the clerk failed to follow procedure on ensuring the legitimacy of the check.

May, 2009
A Bethalto woman responded to an unsolicited email of a job offer.  The company, Prime Insurance of Switzerland, hired her as an Accounts Manager.  They used the woman's personal checking accounts to launder money.  The company would make deposits to the account and have the woman make disbursements via Western Union and Money Gram.  Federal Authorities are involved with this scam.

September, 2009
A Bethalto vehicle service business was contacted by email.  They requested to be contacted by TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf) and posed as a person that is hearing impaired.  The scammer claimed to have purchased a vehicle in another state and wanted the Bethalto business to tow it to their facility for repairs.  They offered money in advance by credit card that was more than enough to cover the cost.  They requested that the business bill the card for the full amount authorized, keep enough to cover the cost, and then send the "change" by Western Union Money Order.  The credit card number was stolen, there was no vehicle in the other state, and the emails had originated from outside the United States.

December, 2009
Three sperate Bethalto residents received telephone calls from unknown persons claiming to represent different organizations.  Each had personal information of the Bethalto residents and advised that they had won various cash awards.  The largest claimed to be an award of $3,500,000.  Each resident was instructed to send by money order an amount of cash to cover various expenses.  These monies were amounts up to $3,500 and were to be for processing fees and taxes.  The curious factor to these cases is that each call originated in Jamaica.  On more than one occasion the scammer left a phone number for a return call that was an international number in which fees applied.

  For more infromation on Jamaican Lottery Scams, click here to watch a video.