DURANGO, Colo. - The Durango Police Department has learned of a “Federal Lottery Commission” scam mailed to an area resident on Nov. 20, 2008.  

The woman received a letter informing her that she had won a grand prize of $1 million. Enclosed with the letter was a check for $5,163 with instructions to deposit it into her personal account and to telephone a claims officer. 

The scam artist’s objective is for the recipient to call, divulge account information, which then allows the crook to access the account or commit identity theft. Oftentimes, scams require the recipient to wire money to “cover the taxes” on the award. In this instance, the scammer was foiled.  The issued check was from another compromised account and looked legitimate.

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