Jim Baker's troubles began last month when he received a phone call stating he had won a large "Global Lottery" cash prize. He was then told he would need to pay some up-front fees before the funds could be released, but Baker was not so easily taken in.
"They say I had won 840 some thousand dollars and a new Mercedes Benz, but then they said I had to pay some kind of a fee for filing and everything and Canadian taxes," Baker explained. "Well that's a bunch of BS because you don't pay taxes on lotteries up here."
When Baker refused to play along with the scammers they began sending him checks through the mail and instructed him to cash them wire the money to a US bank.
The fact that he never cashed any of the checks has not deterred the scammers, who have been hounding Baker and his wife with an ongoing barrage of phone calls demanding payment. The situation has got so bad the Bakers no longer answer their phone unless they recognize the number displayed on the caller ID.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is aware of the scam and believes it originated in the US, but is now targeting Canadian citizens.
