MASON CITY – The Mason City Police Department is alerting people to a possible scam.
Victims are receiving a phone call from a suspect stating the victim just won a lottery drawing for unclaimed prizes. The suspect tells the victim that a carrier is enroute to their house to give them a check. The suspect asks for the victim to go to Walmart and buy two green dot cards. The suspect asks the victim to put $500 on each card and keep them to giver to the carrier to cover expenses. The suspect stays on the phone with the victim the entire time stating there are so many scams gong on that they want one person to stay with them through the whole process. The victim is then asked to give the routing numbers off the green dot cards to the suspect on the phone. The suspect withdraws the money from the cards and the victim is out the money.
Citizens are reminded that if something seems too good to be true it probably is. Citizens should never give personal information out over the phone or transfer money to anyone they don’t know.
