Postal clerk tips off Postal Inspector to victim being targeted by scam

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- It is bad enough so many people get lured into foreign lottery scams. Now, we have a story about two rival scam operations both going after the same victim -- and the person was spared by a stroke of luck.

"They are told they`ve won a prize, either a sweepstakes or a lottery prize - but there is a catch," U.S. Postal Inspector Steve Bolz said.

Foreign lottery scams are costing Americans more than $120 million a year. Thousands of people are falling victim to the promise of big winnings.

"They have to pay money in order to collect this prize. There will be some sort of explanation. It might be they have to pay taxes, they have to pay customs, processing fees -- it`s all window dressing," Bolz said.

In an unusual twist, a postal clerk tipped Inspector Bolz off to a victim being targeted by two rival groups of foreign lottery scammers.

"He was standing in line at the Post Office ready to mail a package as one of these groups directed him when he received a phone call on his cell phone from a rival group. When they learned what he was doing, they gave him a new address to send that package. That is what he did," Bolz said.

The astute postal clerk sent the package to Inspector Bolz, who then returned it, and a picture was taken of the victim counting the contents -- more than $13,000 in cash that could have ended up in the hands of con men.

Inspector Bolz told him it was all a scam, but the victim was reluctant to believe it.

"People don`t want to believe this is a scam, because they really want to believe in that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," Bolz said.

The victim in this case tried to send money again, but Bolz spoke with his wife.

"She was very upset. She had no idea her husband was sending thousands of dollars overseas. She had to take action at that point and rein him in," Bolz said.

The victim's wife took his cell phone away and monitors their accounts daily -- a sad byproduct of a scam that seems to be on the rise.

"I was unable to get through to him, because the story he was being told was just so much better than the story I was telling him," Bolz said.

It's advice Contact 6 has been giving for years -- no legitimate lottery or sweepstakes will ever ask you for money up front.