Whistleblower has warned about the foreign lottery scam before, but now the swindle has claimed enough victims that the feds have issued a national warning.
The IC3, the FBI's national fraud database, said this week that people are getting realistic but phony checks that accompany letters announcing recipients have won a foreign sweepstakes.
First they have to wire an up-front payment for taxes and fees. By the time the "winners" find out their advance checks are phony, they have often lost thousands of dollars. Those victimized by this scam or any other "cyber crime" are urged to report it to IC3, a partnership of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, via www.ic3.gov.
JAMES ELI SHIFFER
