HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT
EAST HAWAII CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION
CAPTAIN CHAD FUKUI
PHONE:961-2251
APRIL 17, 2006
Police are warning Big Island residents about a scam letter that claims the recipient is the winner of a lottery in Spain.
A Papaikou woman showed police documents claiming to be from the "El Tital Lottery Board S.L." The official looking document announces a supposed lottery winning of $888,248 and claims that an agent purchased the winning ticket in the recipient's name. It arrived by mail with what claims to be a photocopy of the winning lottery ticket and a "payment processing form," which seeks personal information, including bank account data.
"It's totally bogus," said Captain Chad Fukui, head of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigations Division.
Fukui said this kind of scam is part of a growing trend throughout the country to try to obtain personal information so the scam artist can clean out someone's bank account. "It's known that they try to target elderly citizens," he said.
Fukui warned residents not to give personal information to someone they don't know, especially by phone, mail or E-mail. As with other scams claiming someone is about to come into a lot of money, if it looks too good to be true, he said, it usually is.
Police ask residents who receive what they suspect may be a fraudulent request for financial information to call their financial institution or the police non-emergency number at 935-3311.