OC Man Laughs Off Bizarre Hoax That Suggests He Won Powerball Jackpot
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA (CBSLA.com) — Imagine being inundated with messages congratulating you for being one of the three Powerball jackpot winners.
That's exactly what happened to 27-year-old Jared Price from Orange County.
"A friend I haven't talked to in several years. He texted me, he's like, 'Dude, is it for real? You win the Powerball?' And I said, 'I don't know what you're talking about. Where did you hear this? Like maybe I did, I bought a ticket,' " he said.
There's only one problem: he did buy a ticket, but his numbers weren't the winning digits.
It all came from an article claiming a 27-year-old hedge fund manager named Jared Price won the jackpot.
"His name is spelled exactly the same as mine. They said he was a hedge fund manager. And a lot of people don't quite understand hedge funds versus mortgage manager so they thought maybe it could be me," he said.
It was shared and re-shared on social media after originally being posted on UnitedMediaPublishing.com.
In the past 24 hours, Price has been inundated with phone calls, emails, and social media messages. People even tracked down his parents and wife.
"By 7 a.m., I already had over 100 LinkedIn requests and mostly it's realtors trying to get me to buy a house in Chino Hills," he said.
And that's not all.
Fake profiles have popped up online claiming to be him. Price, though, is laughing it off.
"I had to make something and post it on Facebook saying I am Jared Price, I did not win, I don't have money for you," he said.
It's still unclear if the site randomly selected Price's information or if it was a coincidence.
CBS2 was unable to track down or make contact with anyone affiliated with the site.