Lottery Ticket Scammers Target Bay Area Man

Union City police are warning residents to exercise caution after a 60-year-old man recently fell victim to a lottery scam.

According to Sgt. Travis Souza, the victim was approached at the Fremont DMV parking lot by two men claiming to have a winning lottery ticket worth $9 million.

The scammers — a white man in his 50s and a black man in his 30s claiming to be Russian and French immigrants — said they were in the country illegally. As a result, they could not claim the prize money because they did not have Social Security numbers and feared they would be deported.

They told the victim that if he let them hold “good faith” money as security, they would let him redeem the prize and split the money, Souza said.

“These guys are pretty savvy,” said Souza.

To make the lottery ticket seem authentic, the suspects had the victim call a number printed on the back of the ticket. A woman at the fake call center confirmed the “winning” numbers, according to Souza.

“That further sinks the hook in the victim,” Souza said.

The victim then drove to a local bank in Union City where he handed “thousands of dollars” over to the suspects, Souza said.

The suspects fled the area after receiving the money.

Detectives are currently investigating the case.

“Unfortunately, it’s a fairly popular scam” with multiple variations, Souza said. “We’ve seen many people victimized by it.”

Similar scams have been reported in the area in the past.

In April, UCPD released  reported at Union Landing.

In that case, a shopper was approached by someone claiming to be an African prince. The “prince” said he needed $2,000 in order to receive a larger sum from his home country with the promise the victim would be rewarded a cut of the money for their kindness.

While scams occur year-round, they are particularly common . Common holiday swindles include the “rocks in the box” scam where a person will try to sell electronics in what appears to be properly packaged boxes and the “Jamaican Switch” in which a person claims to have found a large bag of money.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is,” said Lt. Ben Horner said in a past interview.