SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KERO) — On Monday, September 26th, The United States Department of Justice sentenced Adedayo Akinwunmi Agbayewa of College Park, Georgia to 5 years in prison and over $7 million dollars in restitution for mail fraud and money laundering.
According to court documents, Agbayewa and co-conspirators targeted elderly people with a telemarketing scam. Using false names, they randomly called and told people they had won a sweepstakes or lottery, then asked for “processing fees” in order to deliver the nonexistent prize.
In light of this action by the DOJ, the California State Lottery released a statement about how to avoid lottery scams, some red flags to look for, and what to do if you think you have spoken to or been fooled by a lottery scammer.
“We want to make sure everyone knows that the California Lottery does NOT charge taxes or fees for players to claim their prize,” said Alva V. Johnson, Director for the California State Lottery.
CSL is also making sure players are aware that no legitimate state lottery agent will contact a player about winning a jackpot unless that player has already filled out a prize claim form. There is absolutely no way to win a lottery prize if you have not played a lottery game.
Never give your credit card number, social security number, bank account information, or any other sensitive information, such as birthdates or home addresses, to anyone you don’t know, and be suspicious of anyone who insists you must act right away or who becomes threatening or hostile.
Tickets for the California lottery are only available at one of the more than 23,000 statewide authorized lottery retailers, and have never been available for purchase online.
If you think you’re being scammed by someone who says they’re with the CSL, or if you need assistance with a claim form, call the CSL customer service phone line at 1-800-LOTTERY (1-800-568-8379)
