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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 …
Fake FBI Agents Scammed Man Out Of $15K, Then Got Caught In NY, Police Say
Two Brooklyn men posing as FBI agents were arrested in Orange County after allegedly scamming a 27-year-old man out of $15,000, police said.
The suspects, identified as Wei Baoguo, 34, and Yu Sheng Gui, 38, were charged with grand larceny in the third degree after police said they tricked the victim into handing over thousands in cash under the threat of arrest, New York State Police announced on Tuesday, Aug. 5.
According to investigators, the two men contacted the victim and falsely claimed to be federal agents. They told him that unless he paid $15,000, he would be arrested.
The v…
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 “…
$10M Lie: Sweet-Talking Scammer Conned Hudson Valley Victim Out Of Thousands, Police Say
A fraudster convinced an elderly Capital Region man he had won millions in a sweepstakes, then walked away with tens of thousands in cash, police said.
Lance Norman, 36, of Queens, was arrested on Monday, May 12, in connection with an elaborate Publishers Clearing House scam that targeted a victim in Columbia County, according to New York State Police.
A Chatham man told troopers he received a phone call claiming he had won $10 million and a new Mercedes-Benz. The caller instructed him that in order to claim the prize, he needed to pay taxes up front.
The victim handed over approximately $…
HV 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 …
