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Sorry. You Have Not Won $5,000

by Melinda Tuhus | Jun 26, 2008 8:05 am

(4) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Arts

check.jpgNew Haven Mayor DeStefano decided it was a teachable moment when his wife received a realistic-looking check in the mail a few weeks ago saying she’d won the lottery.

The “check” was for almost $5,000. The mayor said when he and his wife studied it, “I have to tell ya, it looked a hundred percent genuine to us.”

Suspecting something was amiss, the mayor called Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal, whose office tracks fraud complaints.

AG%20podium.jpgAt a City Hall news conference Wednesday afternoon, Blumenthal (pictured on the left, with DeStefano on the right) said there’s been a surge in fraudulent schemes. There were more than 5,000 complaints of fraud statewide last year, and the numbers are rising fast, although he added that the vast majority of those who are defrauded don’t report the crime, mostly out of embarrassment.

The mayor recommended anyone who receives notification in the mail of winning the lottery without playing should call the attorney general’s office. He said there’s a clear set of things to watch out for if you get a “you are a winner! call”: “That the person is really excited, that they demand an immediate response, that they ask for your credit card number or your bank account number, that you have to pay a fee up front or you have to send a payment by wire services.”

Blumenthal advised residents to be wary. “The only way to play the lottery is to buy a ticket or in some way, play the game. Something sent in the mail, without the person playing, is bound to cause heartache and loss. Some of them are aimed at non-English speaking people, and they are especially pernicious, because they exploit the American dream.”

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posted by: Newbie on June 26, 2008  11:58am

What about all those phone calls I’ve been getting from Nevada, Pennsylvania, all over, telling me its “my second notice about the factory warranty on my car expiring”?  I don’t even own a car!  And I’m not the only one getting these calls.  Is this a scam too?  Is there anyway to block or persue the people behind these calls?  Has anyone looked into this?

posted by: outcast on June 26, 2008  7:44pm

WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE PEOPLE THAT COMPLAIN FOUR MONTHS AGO AND THE CITY SENT THEM OTHER PLACES.

MAYOR D YOUR NOT THE FIRST ONE TO GET SCAM, SO STOP SCAMING ALL OF THESE TAXPAYERS AND GET RID OF YOUR APPOINTEE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY WORKED ON YOUR CAMPAIGN.

QUESTION, I WAS WONDERING HOW COME THE BLACKS AND HASPANIC YOUTHS THAT WORKED FOR THE MAYOR DID NOT GET JOBS FOR OVER $70K OR WORKED IN HIS OFFICE?

PEOPLE OF COLOR WAKE UP AND SEE THE DIVISION THIS MAN HAS PLACED ON OUR CITY.

I URGE ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF COLOR LEADERS TO STAND UP AND THIS IS COMING FROM A WHITE MAN, PLEASE STAND UP FOR YOUR CHILDREN SO THAT THEY CAN BE COUNTED.

posted by: omerta on June 28, 2008  10:19pm

So the scam artists have put Johnny D on a suckers list. I am shocked. It takes one to know one.

posted by: VAL on July 2, 2008  9:04am

Protect yourself from scams. For more information, go to: http://www.ctlottery.org/scam.htm.

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