Latin lotto scam

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

One California senior nearly lost $25,000 to a fraud currently operating in the Bay Area but known nationally as the Latin lotto scam. Common sense and quick thinking saved him. Barely. Out for his morning stroll, Aurelio Ramirez was asked for directions by a bewildered fellow. As Ramirez scoured his memory for the obscure address, a woman passing by said she knew the location the man was searching for. She offered to drive the grateful stranger to his destination, but only if Ramirez came along.

Retired and with time on his hands, Ramirez agreed. In the car, the stranger said he had a winning lottery ticket, which he could not claim because he was undocumented and the lottery required a Social Security number and prepayment of taxes. The woman called the lottery on her cell phone and learned that the ticket was worth $1.5 million. She then proposed that she and Ramirez claim the money for the stranger in exchange for a reward of $100,000 each. All they had to do was pay off a required tax deposit of $25,000 each.

After they all agreed to the deal, the woman stopped at her bank but was only able to withdraw $23,000. Ramirez then withdrew $15,000 from two branches of his bank. As they looked for another branch, the woman proposed that they keep all their money in one bag for safety. Ramirez began to smell a rat. He said there was no need to keep the money in one bag, nor was he worried because his daughter worked for the FBI, and he had told her the whole story and given her the car’s license number.

The demeanor of Ramirez’ new partners changed to alarm as they dropped him off and admonished him for betraying their secret arrangement. Realizing he had dodged a con, Ramirez gratefully redeposited his money.

Source: Consumer Connection, Spring 2008 Newsletter, California Department of Consumer Affairs.