Scam Type
Sweepstakes/Lottery/Prizes Scam
Date Reported
2023-05-12 00:00:00
Victim Postal Code
S4V 0W7
Total Dollars Lost
0
Scam Description
Was called on my personal cel# to report that I was the recipient of several prizes being awarded by a program called “Mega Millions”. I was to receive 2 cars, $8.5 million in the form of a cheque + $300,000 is cash which would all be delivered to my home address which they had on file and stated to me for confirmation purposes. I tried to gather information as they offered to give me 3 verification #s: 1 package # 495627131 2 Claim # 33501Uf955 3 Reference # 602771UPAS3315. I assume this was to legitimize the nature of the call. The caller who identified himself as John Washington thought I was in the U.S. which confirmed my suspicions that this call was contrived. They insisted that they did not want any personal information in order to protect my security I tried to get more information as they asked which bank I dealt with. I asked them why this was necessary and was told that they only needed to verify that I had a checking account. I gave them the name of a bank I do not use and waited for the next question. When they suggested that they would need an account # to transfer and confirm for the bank that the money was to be deposited into my account, I refused to communicate this detail as I felt that I had taken this as far as I could. I asked them to mail me the information as they already had my mailing address and then hung up. This is the third time I have been targeted by this program. I have no idea where they would have gotten my cel# or why I have been repeatedly targeted. I have told the previous two callers that this sounded like a scam and that I was not interested in doing anything more over the phone. I told them that as soon as they appeared at my home with the prizes I would believe the program was legitimate. Interestingly enough, this latest person mentioned that they had been trying on two previous occasions to place these prizes with me and that is why they were calling a third time. They insisted that they were legitimate and had placed these “winnings” on hold because I had not yet claimed them. This is all contrived to make the whole process believable. If they contact you more than once, this may add credibility to the program for some who want to believe they are really in line for a windfall. There is no way to verify the legitimacy of this phone contact program. Upon checking the net for information about Mega Millions, I discovered that they only operate in 45 US states including the US virgin islands. There is no mention of a Canadian territory. This is further confirmation that this type of call is a scam. Bottom line: Canadians do not qualify as the Meg Millions program is not licensed in Canada and requires that you purchase a ticket in order to participate at all. Never having purchased a ticket, I am mystified how my name and address was acquired. I have blocked the latest caller once again. It will be interesting to see how long before another caller from this program attempts to contact me.
