HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
DETECTIVE THOMAS C. WALTJEN
PHONE: 961-2378
MARCH 6, 2003
MEDIA RELEASE
Police are warning Big Island residents to be wary of a new telephone scam, this one apparently aimed at the elderly.
Hilo Criminal Investigation Section detectives are investigating a scheme in which an elderly woman reported that she had been called by someone who said he was representing the “Overseas Lucky Corporation.”
The caller informed her she was one of 25 persons chosen to win a $5 million lottery. He told the victim there was a “one-time charge” of $498 for her to enter the contest.
Later, another person called back and told the woman she had actually won the jackpot. The second caller then asked her for her bank account number so the “corporation” could withdraw the $498.
The woman later discovered that more than $500 had been automatically withdrawn from her bank account, but she never heard back about her lottery “winnings.”
Anyone who has any information about the scam or has been victimized by this or similar telephone scams is asked to call Detective Thomas C. Waltjen of the Hilo CIS at 961-2378 or the police non-emergency number at 935-3311.
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