- Fraudsters allegedly tricked a woman into believing she had won $3 million, then stole $400,000 from her.
- They targeted the woman because she was elderly and showing early signs of dementia, police said.
- The FTC has called for vigilance against sweepstakes scams that require an upfront payment.
In Florida, fraudsters tricked a woman into believing she had won $3 million, then stole $400,000 from her bank account.
Police arrested Michael Lawrence and Max Richards in connection with the scam, but were only able to recover about $40,000 of the money, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a conference press release Friday, according to Fox 13.
Lawrence and Richards face charges of first-degree theft and fraudulent scheme, according to court records.
Judd, 70, is known online for his raucous news conferences in which he shares information about people arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
At Friday’s press conference, Judd said the scammers were targeting an elderly woman showing early signs of dementia. They told her she had won $3 million in a contest run by the publisher’s Clearing House and that she had to pay them taxes, Judd said.
By the end, she had sent Lawrence and Richards $477,000 in three separate checks, Judd said.
A lawyer for Lawrence did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. Court records make it unclear whether Richards has retained an attorney.
The Federal Trade Commission says the best way to spot a sweepstakes scam is to look at what the party offering the money asks you to do next. If they try to convince you to hand over money or send them your account information, it’s likely a scam, the agency says.
“If someone asks you to pay a fee for ‘taxes,’ ‘shipping and handling fees,’ or ‘handling fees’ to get your price, you are dealing with a scammer,” warned l ‘agency.
If you pay money to a scammer, the FTC recommends asking the company you sent money through to help you get it back if possible.
Polk said during the news conference that money lost in scams is often difficult to recover. The sheriff’s office only recovered about $40,000 of the woman’s money, he said.
“You’re going to get subpoenas and then the bank takes its time getting the data back, the money is long gone,” Judd said according to Fox.
Lawrence appeared in court Friday and does not yet have a hearing scheduled on the court docket.
The publisher’s Clearing House did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
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