Manitowoc police are warning the community about a scam. They say an elderly man came to them Thursday morning with concerns about a $7,998.25 check he received in the mail. It came with a letter stating he was the "lucky winner" of a $500,000 lottery prize from London, England, but he must pay $7,680 in taxes before he could receive the remainder of the money.
Police say the criminal hopes the person receiving the letter will cash the check, contact the scammer via telephone, and then follow their instructions by sending the scammer the tax money. Not only is the thief getting several thousand dollars but the victim is responsible for paying the money back to the bank where it was cashed.
Manitowoc police also noticed several other red flags signaling this was a case of attempted fraud such as grammatical errors, poor quality of the copied document, and different font styles throughout the letter.
Investigators say most of these scams come from outside the U.S. with the money being used to fund terrorist organizations, so there's very little local police can do to track down and arrest the suspects.
The man targeted in Manitowoc did not fall for the scam, but police say too often, people do. They suggest searching online for the most current scams and always trust your gut. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
