Vancouverite
Two B.C.
men arrested in lottery scam face extradition to L.A
July
20, 2009 --Vancouver -- Two men have been arrested
in Surrey and face extradition to the United States in a telemarketing
lottery scam that targeted elderly Americans.
The Royal Canadian
Mounted Police said they carried out searches in the Vancouver
suburbs of Surrey, Burnaby and Coquitlam on Thursday are arrested
two men on warrants issued by the FBI in Los Angeles.
Police allege that
residents of the United States of America were targeted in
an advance fee lottery scam that involved MoneyGram outlets
operated by two Surrey men. Both men were arrested and will
face extradition to the United States where they have been
charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District
Court in Los Angeles,RCMP said.
Police allege that
victims, primarily senior citizens residing across the USA,
received letters that informed them they had won a lottery
and that urged them to contact a number supplied with the
notification,police said.
The letter would be
accompanied by a cheque that would appear to be worth several
thousand dollars. The phone number would connect the victim
with the fraudsters and once contact was established the victims
were convinced that costs associated to their prize would
have to be paid in advance in order for their lottery winnings
to be released.
Victims were persuaded
to deposit the cheques they had received and return the funds
to the fraudsters, usually via electronic wire transfer, in
order to cover taxes and fees associated to their winnings.
The cheque would later be determined to be counterfeit,added
a police statement issued in Vancouver.
The actual amounts
that the two men are suspected of scamming from their victims
is still being determined. Illegal telemarketers bilk American
senior citizens out of millions of dollars annually, RCMP
said.
The joint investigation
between the RCMP and the FBI's Los Angeles office began in
June 2008. Criminal charges will be prosecuted by the United
States Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, California.
Police remind the public
that there are no fees or taxes payable in Canada in order
to receive lottery winnings.
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