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Fake attorney swindles Troy woman out of $669K in sweepstakes scam

Fake attorney retrieved payment from victim over several months

A woman said she was swindled out of $669,500 in a Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes in Troy. (Mark Lennihan, Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

TROY, Mich. – A woman said she was swindled out of $669,500 in a Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes in Troy.

The incident occurred on Sunday (March 17) when the woman said she was contacted by mail, notifying her that she had won the sweepstakes and that to claim the prize, an attorney was assigned to her case.

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Officials say the fake attorney retrieved payment over several months, claiming that the payments he was having her make were to secure her winnings and pay storage fees for the vehicle she had supposedly won.

Update: Troy woman loses more than $600K in Publishers Clearing House scam

Officials said the woman told a friend what was happening and advised her to contact police as she believed she was being scammed.

Anyone with information should contact the Troy Police Department at 248-524-3477 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-Speak Up.

All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.


About the Author
Brandon Carr headshot

Brandon Carr is a digital content producer for ClickOnDetroit and has been with WDIV Local 4 since November 2021. Brandon is the 2015 Solomon Kinloch Humanitarian award recipient for Community Service.

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