GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Better Business Bureau is putting out a warning about lottery scams and promises of big prizes that are too good to be true.
On Tuesday, the BBB released a national report on sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams. It says that over the past three years, the BBB has received 473,199 complaints about lottery or sweepstakes scams. In those cases, the victims lost a total of $344,414,000.
>>PDF: BBB study
The BBB says it believes only about 10 percent of victims report the scam, so the total losses could be in the billions.
SO-CALLED PRIZE COMPANY: 'DON'T TELL ANYONE'
One popular scam plays off the well-known Publishers Clearing House brand. One Barry County woman who doesn't want to be identified told 24 Hour News 8 that she lost $6,050 to the scheme.
It started with a phone call in April telling her she won $850,000. The caller used the name of a real PCH official and gave her the company's correct address in New York. However, she was told that in order to get her prize, she had to go to the bank and send the so-called PCH some money. When she did, the calls increased, coming as many as six times a day.
"It's always, 'When we get this done, we'll show up with your prize,'" she recalled the scammers saying in those calls.