Lottery Winners Being Targeted In New Scam
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The newest lottery scam has a twist: it targets people who have already won.
Shaun Heckmann contacted KDKA after he got one of the calls.
"They had everything worked out pretty clever," said Heckmann.
Heckmann won $1,000 from a scratch-off ticket about a year ago.
Just recently, someone called him claiming to be from the Pennsylvania Lottery and said that he had won $5 million in a second chance drawing.
He realized it was a scam when he called back and was told he would have to pay $1,000 in taxes in fees before he could see his winnings.
Heckmann wondered how the scammers knew he had won in the first place.
It turns out, that if you win a prize in Pennsylvania, your name is listed on the lottery's website.
Up until earlier this year, it was your full name, your town, the game you won and the amount you won.
Gary Miller from the Pennsylvania Lottery explained, "Under Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law, the names of lottery winners are a matter of public records, and in the past, winner names were posted."
However, the lottery has changed things and now only posts the first initial of people's last names.
Miller warns people that the lottery will never ask for personal bank information or make you pay anything to claim a prize.
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