I just got a call saying my mother won the olc lottery international prize of $21,000,000.00 US and a laptop and a car. They want me to send $250.00 to a Marvin Powell, Kingston, Jamaica. The fellow that called me is a James Kennedy at XXX-XXX-XXXX. I am supposed to have this payment receipt for them to deliver the prize. Is this legit?
Already Tried: I have not gone to Western Union to send the money yet.
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Unfortunately, no, this is not legitimate - they're scamming your mother.
You cannot win a contest that you did not enter. It's illegal, because lotteries and sweepstakes are heavily regulated. A person cannot be entered without his knowledge - there are no lotteries or sweepstakes that choose winners from a random pool of email addresses or cell phone numbers. Those messages go out to thousands of people at a time. There are also no legitimate international lotteries.
If you really won a contest with a cash prize, any required taxes/fees are paid out of the winnings. You can ask them to withhold certain amounts to send to the IRS (which is usually a good idea), but there is never any need to pay any amounts upfront. Taxes are between you and the IRS. There is never a good reason to pay someone to give you money - especially when they want it wire transferred immediately via Western Union or sent via MoneyPak. The Federal Trade Commission has specifically warned people not to fall for this scam.http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/youarehere/pages/pdf/FTC-Fraud-Scams-The-Winner-Is.pdf
Sorry. Here's a clickable link:http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/youarehere/pages/pdf/FTC-Fraud-Scams-The-Winner-Is.pdf
He contacted me by home phone and had said that my mother had entered information for reader's digest and won the grand prize is this helpful to check this out.
It'
helpful in the sense where I can show you where Reader's Digest told people that this is a scam. Let me find it for you.
Here:http://www.rd.com/advice/consumer-alert-dont-be-fooled/
You never have to pay someone to give you money. Any time they want you to send them money via Western Union, it's a scam. Western Union is a legitimate company but, unfortunately, the majority of people who use it are not, because it offers no protection to the person sending money.
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Experience: Lawyer.