Crime & Safety

Two Los Gatos Residents Lose $9,500 in Lottery Scam

Police urge the public against sending advance 'processing,' transferring' fees.

Two Los Gatos residents were victims of a lottery scam, reporting the crime to police authorities last week.

According to a police report, the pair lost $9,500 in the common type of advance-fee fraud scheme, which sometimes starts with an email notification that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery.

The crime was reported to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department at 1:32 p.m. Nov. 6 at 750 University Ave.

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Police officials say normally victims are told to keep their "winnings" secret and are then are asked to fork out large sums of money in the pretense of processing and transferring fees to secure the non-existent prizes.

Police say some ways to recognize an email involved in the fraudulent scheme is understanding that no prize can be won unless a ticket is purchased. Another warning sign is when scammers ask victims to pay fees up front to received their winnings. Normally, such fees are just deducted from the prize, according to authorities.

Find out what's happening in Los Gatoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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