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How To Avoid Lottery, Prize Scams: You Didn’t Enter, But You 'Won'?
A surprise message says you hit the jackpot, but there’s a catch: you must pay a fee or hand over personal details to claim it.
That’s the hallmark of a lottery or prize scam—designed to separate you from your money and identity.
These schemes often arrive by email, text, phone, or mail and lean on pressure tactics to force quick decisions.
Scammers frequently demand “taxes,” “processing,” or “shipping” upfront, or ask for sensitive data to “verify” you.
Legitimate lotteries do not require payment to release a prize, and you should never be asked for your Social Security…
Big League Lie: Man Claimed MLB Career While Scamming Women, Dodging Sex Offender Registry: DOJ
He said he was going pro in baseball — but what he really went pro in was lying, scamming, and disappearing from the sex offender registry, prosecutors in Virginia say.
Now, he's going to prison.
A Roanoke man who told women he was a Major League Baseball prospect, forged six-figure checks, used burner phones to impersonate team officials, and failed to register as a sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this year, federal officials announced.
Now, Janike Dunbar Holt — a man who goes by many names — has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.
Holt, 29 — also known as…
Zelle Left Users Open To $1B In Scams, NY AG Says
The operator of Zelle is accused of designing the popular payment app without basic safeguards, allowing scammers to steal more than $1 billion from users.
A lawsuit filed against Early Warning Services, LLC (EWS) by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office Wednesday, Aug. 13, alleges the company failed to protect users from scams.
EWS operates Zelle and is owned by a consortium of some of the country’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, and Wells Fargo.
According to the complaint, EWS launched Zelle in 2017 without critical safeguards, making it …
$62K Psychic Scam Foiled At Nassau County Bank: Police
A Queens man posing as a spiritual guide was arrested after trying to scam a Long Island woman out of $62,000 for fortune telling services, Nassau County police announced on Friday, July 18.
Hemanth Kumar Muneppa, 33, allegedly convinced a 68-year-old woman to pay him $20,000 for psychic services on Thursday, July 3, detectives said. When she returned for a follow-up session at Anjana Ji on South Broadway in Hicksville on Thursday, July 17, he demanded another $42,000.
Muneppa drove the woman to a nearby bank on Broadway so she could withdraw the additional money, police explained. There, a…
Sex Offender Faked MLB Career, Scammed Women, Skipped Registry In Virginia: DOJ
He said he was going pro in baseball — but what he really went pro in was lying, scamming, and disappearing from the sex offender registry, prosecutors in Virginia say.
A Roanoke man who told women he was a Major League Baseball prospect, forged six-figure checks, used burner phones to impersonate team officials, and failed to register as a sex offender has pleaded guilty in federal court as part of an elaborate scheme, federal officials announced.
He went by many names while executing his scheme.
Janike Dunbar Holt, 29 — also known as “Nike,” “Janike Tagovailoa,” “Keanu Tagovailoa,” and “…
Duo's $387K Bank Scam Ends In Crash With Police Car In Nassau County, Cops Say
A months-long phone scam that tricked a Long Island woman out of nearly $400,000 ended in a dramatic crash and two Massachusetts men in handcuffs, police said.
Port Washington Police arrested Dominique Jones, 24, and Jean Saint Fort, 22, both of Chelsea, Massachusetts, following an undercover operation on Friday, May 2, in Greenvale.
Investigators determined that the pair called the victim in February, claiming to be a Chase Bank fraud department representative, Nassau County Police said. Over the next two months, they convinced her to withdraw large sums of money in response to supposed “s…
NY Victim Gave $100K In Gold, Cash To Scammer Posing As Federal Agent, Police Say
A Long Island man posing as a federal agent conned a Hudson Valley woman into handing over nearly $100,000 in cash and gold, police said.
Mykhaylo Mykhaylov, 39, of Copiague, was busted during an undercover operation in Columbia County on Wednesday, May 7 — just as the victim was about to deliver yet another payment, New York State Police said.
The 73-year-old victim first contacted police on Monday, May 5, after realizing she may have been targeted in a fraud scheme that began in March. She told troopers that people claiming to be agents with the Federal Trade Commission had convinced her …
