ALFRED, Maine — An elderly Arundel woman was isolated from family members and robbed of nearly $80,000 during months of manipulation by callers claiming she had won a Jamaican lottery, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office released a five-page description of the scam Thursday detailing a chain of events in which the victim skeptically fielded the first calls, then over time allowed the fraudulent lottery officials to alienate family members and even change her phone number in order to make her dependent on them for emotional support, all the while promising they would deliver a new car and check for $2.5 million if she would just pay a few more processing fees. And then a few more.
The con artists identified themselves as Mark and Jennifer and claimed to represent an outfit known as Gold Rush International, deputies stated, with Jennifer splitting off to play the role of confidante, calling late at night just to talk or to check in during storms in order to build trust.
Once York County investigators became aware of the scam, after the perpetrators already had drawn down nearly all of the woman’s life savings, they uncovered an international spiderweb of facilitators, many of whom were previous victims convinced to help victimize others to recoup their losses.
Among those pulled into the criminal network were a former Florida schoolteacher and a former Minnesota veterinarian, who admitted to serving as middlemen for the scammers and passing along the Arundel woman’s money in exchange for small payouts. The layers of go-betweens further obscure investigators’ abilities to pin down who is ultimately behind the schemes, deputies stated.
The masterminds, local investigators said, are difficult or impossible to identify despite new federal programs targeting the operations. As a result, the sheriff’s office stated, the best way to deal with the problem is still public outreach and prevention.
The callers initiating the scams will try building rapport with their victims, York County deputies reported, but will resort to intimidation and harassment if they need to.
“The Jamaican criminals involved in these scams are sly and dangerous,” the Sheriff’s Office report stated. “One of them spent 10 years in a Minnesota prison for murder.”
Law enforcement officials said that the Arundel woman, 82, will likely have to sell some of her land or trees on it to pay for heating oil. Before falling prey to the Jamaican lottery ruse, she lived comfortably on money she had saved for retirement.
“Sitting in her manufactured home on several acres of wooded land, [she] is not enjoying the calmness or serenity that her advanced age deserves,” the Sheriff’s Office account reads. “Her insides are in knots and lately she’s been crying herself to sleep, clutching the only symbol of hope she has left, her crucifix.
“While [she] may be able to recover some of her life savings, she will never regain her sense of security, her ability to trust others and the self-respect she lost for allowing herself to be taken on the cruelest ride of her life,” it continues.
A Sheriff’s Office announcement Thursday cautioned Mainers never to give out bank account or Social Security information or long-distance telephone access code to callers, and to recognize that any supposed lottery official seeking processing fees or secrecy is a con artist.
Poor little old lady.
It’s sad and I do feel sorry for her. I hope the crooks get nailed.
But, come on! People have to have a little skepticism and protect themselves. Did you even enter this frakking Jamaican lottery?
And, seriously, even if you had won a legitimate cash prize, why would you have to send them money to pay a processing fee? Why wouldn’t they just deduct fees and taxes from what they are sending you?
Its hard to understand what goes on in peoples minds. I dont want to say that elderly people get soft or go a bit senile. That would be disrespectful and I know it doesnt apply to everyone. And yet I cant imagine how someone would go ahead and change thier phone number in order to get prize money from a lottery in a country they dont even live in and have never been too most likely.
Your just tryin’ to keep me from gittin’ my rightful winnins’ ain’t ya??? They told me you’d do that. I’m changin’ my numbah right now, by gorry, that’ll fix ya
Well, gee, maybe not everybody is such an obvious genius as you. What a smuck.
Hey olemainer….
You’ve won $56 million in the Australian lottery. Give me your bank account information and I’ll get the money to you. There is a processing fee.. you’ll have to Western Union that to me first.
Also, I work at a bank where I came across the account of a Nigerian prince who recently died. Rather than have the government take all that money, why don’t you help me get the money out? Just send me a blank check. There’s $3 million in it for you.
And that is what I dont understand. If I am not a Jamaican, dont live there and have never even been there then how did I win a lottery there?
I want to be compassionate to the victim of this crime but I just dont get how these people get taken in with this foolishness.
Hope these people burn in whatever hell is out there.
I agree, burn in hell losers, what type of person could actually do this to an elderly person?? Hope they burn in hell for eternity!!!
Not only were they stealing and preying on old folks but then they turned out other victims to help them continue the scam.
My grandmother who is also 82 once told me this some years ago when we were discussing a subject much like this.
“We grew up with a strong belief in being trustworthy in the eyes of others. You trusted people and they trusted you based on your good name. We bought on credit and to never pay that back was unthinkable. You could hitchhike from Ellsworth to Bangor and people would stop to do you a favor”
Sadly and perhaps not so sadly, those days are gone. I read these stories and wonder what the victim was thinking. However Im not elderly, not been trained to trust everyone and perhaps to my detriment, a bit sceptical of many things.
I agree whole hearted with you. It’s funny but when my Dad passed away several years ago (he was 83), I had a feeling this world was going to be a sorrier place as the “Greatest” generation passes on. They had manners and class, something that is sorely missed today.
I get scams in my email all the time . Some times its the same scam from 4 diffrant people . I love the one about fedex an ups they say they can’t find my address
Your sense of humor is crappy and your timing is worse.
the lottery is just a tax on stupid people
this is so sad and sick, God will surly judge this one.
If there is a good god he wouldn’t let this kind of thing happen in the first place. On the other hand, these passages from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 may explain why he does…
“And don’t tell me God works in mysterious ways,” Yossarian
continued. … “There’s nothing mysterious about it, He’s not working at
all. He’s playing. Or else He’s forgotten all about us. That’s the kind
of God you people talk about, a country bumpkin, a clumsy, bungling,
brainless, conceited, uncouth hayseed. Good God, how much reverence can
you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such
phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation?
What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological
mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their
bowel movements? Why in the world did He ever create pain?” P.179
or
“[T]he God I don’t believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful
God. He’s not the mean and stupid God you make him out to be.” Lieutenant
Scheisskopf’s wife, who claims to be an atheist, enraged by Yossarian’s view of God. P.180
I think we as a community should get together, have some sort of drive for her. Help her recoup some of her money. The most important though is her self respect. Maybe if we could get a group of people together to talk to her and be there for her she won’t feel so despondent. She needs to come to an understanding that we all have at onetime our lives fell victim. Maybe not the one she did but we’ve all believed in something only to have it thrown in our face. If we could find a way to talk to her as a group so she knows she is not the only one she might feel a bit better and not so alone. :( I just feel so sick to my stomach that someone did this to her.
It’s horrible what these people have done to this poor lady.
i really hope somebody does something. wish i lived closer,i have no money but sure would help if i could with time.
I really hope someone does something, cant imagine how isolated she is feeling now, worse than before. wush i lived closer i would just visit her. makes me sick.I dont have any money or i would send it to her!!!! maybe call the town office & see if something could be set up to help, she needs to know someone cares!!!!!
Couldn’t agree more- what do you say BDN? How about being proactive for once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It sounds as though this poor woman made it difficult, if not impossible, for family members and friends to help her. It sounds as though she pushed them away from her as time went on. Sadly, even at 82, she is the still the one who is ultmately responsible for her actions. Oh, and another thing. God had nothing to do with any of this foolishness. He doesn’t care, one way or the other, what people do with their money.
If the scammers are “difficult or impossible to identify,” what makes them think they are even from Jamaica? My father-in-law got taken in by a similar scam. The scammers told him his grandson needed to be bailed out of a Dominican jail, but the calls were coming from Canada.
Base of operations are usually in 3rd world relatively lawless countries. Keeps the masterminds from having to worry about the feds knocking on the door. In Nigeria, Jamaica etc. what few authorities there are lack the resources, capabilities or sophistication to find these people and prosecute them. It’s like the Wild West. Lawless.
I’m thinking if everybody that read this article sent the lady a dollar, she’d be ahead of where she is…and maybe we could help her trust at least her fellow Mainers again.
That’s a good idea.
We see a lot of these scams and warn against them at the Better Business Bureau. Go to facebook.com/BBBconnection to stay on top of our latest scam warnings and get helpful tips from your BBB.
Unfortunately, there are still tons of similar job scams out there…There is an iPhone app recently released, called Scam Detector, which exposes over 500 of the most notorious scams. It is worth checking it out, if you have an iPhone. The app is also online, if interested: http://www.scam-detector.com. Kinda cool, actually.
A good website to check out if you think your being contacted by a scammer. http://www.419eater.com, these guys specialize in dealing with scammers.
I feel bad for the hoodwinked lady for sure. These people are evil. But c’mon, isn’t there just a little bit of greed at play here too….
I feel sorry for the woman but I do have to ask “How many times is it told on the news that it is a scam”? I had a woman call me and say that we were going to get new social security cards and then she said “I can’t ask you for your bank account number so I am going to read off some numbers and you just let me know when I get to yours” I am old not stupid so as soon as she said that I very loudly said NO that not going to happen and I hung up on her!! Come on folks you can’t win a lottery unless you enter it, plus you never have to pay to win… I do enter and I received a big check and took it to the bank to check it out and it turned out to be fake but I didn’t loose any money..
This just infuriates me. Anyone who would take advantage of an elderly woman in this manner ought to be shot. It really points out the need to keep close tabs on our senior citizens, especially in a world gone crazy with these scams. Somebody ought to start a fund drive to help replace the money she lost.
Never respond to an e-mail or phone call from anyone asking for money, account info, passwords, etc; Period.
No bank or reputable company will ask for this information in an e-mail or phone call. Any calls I get, even from charitable organizations, I tell them to send me something in the mail, never give out credit card or debit card info over the phone to charities, you cannot be sure they are truly the ones calling.
I recently received a call from a person claiming to be a severely disabled Veteran due to combat injuries. He said he was selling light bulbs and the proceeds went to a disabled vet organization. I said I would be happy to support them, just send me something in the mail. He then said they did not do this. I replied that I could not be sure he was who he said he was and that I do not give out credit card info over the phone from unsolicited calls. He then became very abusive and I hung up on him. Probably a scam
I agree with Dale.
Another big scam is the car warranty notices that come in the mail. They are generic, no make of your car on them and the claim your factory warranty is up and you are in danger of high auto repair bills. They give a number to call to renew your warranty on the cheap. I called to mess with them and said I had received their notice but I wasn’t sure which of my cars they were referring to. They then asked what kind of cars I had. I suggested they should know that if they know the warranty has expired. They then tried to say they worked for the auto company so they didn’t actually have the info in front of them. When I asked how I was supposed to renew my warranty they had no good answer. I waited a bit and called back and the same person answered. Yeah, I’m sure GMC, Toyota and Ford have a one man call center handling their warranty department. SURE! But people fall for it, all the time. And others want us to bail them out. Not sure how someone being stupid is my fault.
i answered one of the nigerian: “blessings to you . my husband died and left a jillion million dollars to be used for gods work” emails and answered it by telling them: my church has discussed this and after sacrificing a white chicken received a message from god. god told us that you are a criminal and if you dont repay all money that you have stolen you are cursed. in three months you will begin to feel pain in your legs. if you dont return all money and turn yourself in to the police the pain will spread and you will die a terrible death then be sent to hell for eternity … god bless you.