Police are warning Johnson City area residents of a potential scam that is going around.
According to a Johnson City Police Department news release, the scam works through a letter that has been received by a person via the mail. The letter, with clear grammatical errors and a too good to be true feel, police warn, has the potential to leave one without money or a chance to get their money back due to international jurisdiction issues.
The letter promises a person a large sum of payment by declaring the receiver a “winner of an International Sweepstakes.” All the recipient has to do is pay a processing fee and the taxes due on the total winnings in advance. They ask that the payment comes from Western Union. Once the payment is received, the company will send the recipient their winnings. This would leave the victim without the money they paid for the initial payment.
Since the company has headquarters outside of the country, the victim would have no way to recoup their initial payment.
Police advise residents to remain vigilant and guard when being asked for any kind of payment via an easy money exchange. They say grammatical errors should be clear indicator, and if the recipient is ever suspicious they might be engaged in a scam, they should contact the police immediately.