TROY, Mich. – A scammer swindled more than $600,000 away from an elderly woman in Troy, who believed she had won millions of dollars.
A 73-year-old Troy woman was falsely told by a scammer that she had won Publishers Clearing House. The woman was sent a fake PCH document that looked real, that said she won $3.5 million, a car, and $7,000 a week for life, Troy police said.
But, “like the old saying goes: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Sgt. Ben Hancock with Troy police.
The scammer who contacted the woman posed as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission. Publishers Clearing House is known to use the FTC when transferring prize money.
But this was no FTC attorney. The scammer made the Troy woman believe she needed to send money and high-end items in order to secure her winnings and pay for the car’s storage fees.
“She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account,” Hancock said. “[She] also bought a couple pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect.”
In total, the woman was scammed out of $669,500 over the course of several months.
“Within the last couple weeks, [the woman] told her friend about it, and her friend said, ‘This doesn’t sound right. This seems like a scam. Maybe you should talk to the police department,’” Hancock said. And that’s what the Troy woman did.
She filed a report with the Troy Police Department, and an investigation was opened. However, it’s not likely the scammer will be caught, or that the money will be recovered in this case, Hancock said.
Police hope to remind people to be wary when they’re asked for money.
“You should never have to send money to somebody if they’re claiming to be giving you money in the long run,” Hancok=ck said.
Other red flags from this situation included sending cashier’s checks and depositing money into a Bitcoin ATM, officials said.
Watch Jacqueline Francis’ full report below.