Rise in Fake Lottery Scam Targeting Truck Drivers

Scammers are innovating all the time to attract victims. They use tactics to lure online and offline victims. Lottery scams, where victims are promised huge sums of money as a lottery win are a popular tactic. In a recent case in Northern Utah, a group of scammers has taken to roads to lure passing truckers into their fraud schemes and loot their hard-earned money.

As per the reports, a group of three men is roaming around the parts of Northern Utah claiming to be truckers who have won a big lottery. As a goodwill gesture, they are willing to share it with other truckers. They reach out to truckers and give them an offer that is hard to resist. They offer to double the cash the trucker has in the wallet. To win the potential victim's trust, they even double a small sum of money amounting to $200.

When the victim is convinced, and shells out entire cash from the wallet, one of the scammers takes it and pretends to count. That’s when another scammer steps in and pulls the other scammer, and they quickly run away with the cash. The Willard Police Department has started the operation to hunt down these scammers and has also sought the help of the public to nab them. One of the victims reached out to the police and reported the case. Officer Jordan Harper, investigating police officer for the case shared “(He reported) that a group of individuals came up to him and said that they had won the lottery, and they were giving money out to truck drivers,” Harper said of the incident. “They were asking the truck drivers to pull out their cash to see how much they had. And then they would double it. And for some individuals, they were giving $200 out.”

It seems to be a group of scammers dispersed yet operating together. A few of its members stay around gas stations, and whenever a truck driver visits the gas station, they walk up to him and inform him that someone is sharing the lottery money. They fabricate a story and even tell how they earned a good amount of money through the scheme. All this is enough to convince the truck driver to try it. They direct the trucker toward another group of scammers waiting to steal the cash from the driver. Police are asking people to be vigilant. Harper said, “We do want to warn the public when they are out at the gas stations, that please be cautious and alert that people are out there doing that. Sometimes, things are too good to be true". 

The police have identified some suspects from the CCTV footage and are trying to nab them before other innocent truckers get scammed. They have released the photos of the suspects and a suspected camper vehicle. If anyone has any information about the people in the released photos or has heard people talking about such schemes, they are advised to contact the Williard Police Department immediately.