N.J. man charged in $10K lottery scam on 84-year-old woman

Comment #8

noise-gate — Wed, 02 May 2018 02:43:34 GMT

l know she didn't win anything G, which is why l put the windfall statement in brackets. My other side of the coin statement is that she convinced herself that she was going to get the money, so * in my scenario, she would not want her kids and grand kids knowing of her she did not win any money. Does that help my case? Please say yes

Comment #7

grwurston — Tue, 01 May 2018 23:14:04 GMT

She didn't win anything. Earl called and convinced her she won the lottery, and then convinced her she needed to pay 10.5K in taxes in order to get her winnings.

This is the same tactic used by the Jamaican lottery scammers.

Keep in mind in some cases, a husband or wife may have had to put a spouse in a nursing home. Since nursing homes can cost up to 10K a month, any life savings can be quickly depleted. Having someone call and say you won a large sum of money is often seen as a godsend... [ More ]

Comment #6

Bleudog101 — Tue, 01 May 2018 23:05:36 GMT

Restitution to me is the first thing; then some good old jail time. I'd love to know where he was flying to. Something tells me it was out of country.

A fake PCH employee sent me a message on Facebook. Said 'where are you located'.? Told him Publisher's Clearing House knows my address'. Wanted to know when I could pay the taxes to claim my prize. Said I'm on my way to Standiford Field right now to meet you'. Scammer.

Comment #5

music* — Tue, 01 May 2018 15:40:12 GMT

Very good work by the Port Authority to catch this conman as he was about to board a plane.

I guess that more criminals are conmen and conwomen who do not want to leave their DNA behind at a crime scene and have chosen this line of criminality instead.

I agree with Todd and try to imagine myself at eighty years young. Being that age and having won a major Lottery prize by then I will not fall for these scams. That is what I think today and I have no idea of how or what I will be thinkin... [ More ]

Comment #4

noise-gate — Tue, 01 May 2018 14:10:06 GMT

Earl should serve time, not slap on the wrist time. As sad as this is, looking on the other side of the coin, is the possibility of this 84 year old attempting to hide her windfall from parasitic children grandchildren. Whatever the case, l hope the money is repaid.

Comment #3

Raven62 — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:57:57 GMT

Clearly, a man who cheats or tricks someone by gaining their trust and persuading them to believe something that is not true.

Comment #2

Todd — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:50:35 GMT

Harsh. I tend to be very sympathetic of the elderly getting scammed, because many live isolated lives and are too trusting. Many times they don't have people around for support and counsel, and they are not computer literate so they might not be aware of the scams they are falling victim to.

Comment #1

hearsetrax — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:41:36 GMT

N.J. man charged in $10K lottery scam on 84-year-old woman

Lottery Post — Tue, 01 May 2018 13:23:52 GMT

A New Jersey man tricked an 84-year-old woman into handing over more than $10,000 after telling her she won a lottery, but needed to pay the taxes on the winnings in advance, authorities said.

Earl Alton Smith, 40, convinced the Canandaigua, New York, resident to give him a $5,000 check and one totaling $5,500 in October, New York State Police said in a statement.

Smith was arrested by Port Authority police on Wednesday at Newark Liberty International Airport as he was about to board a pl... [ More ]