Consumer watchdogs in Connecticut have issued an alert warning of a new lottery ticket scam. Unlike many scams, victims are not contacted via email or the telephone, and it does not originate in Jamaica. Instead victims are targeted in the street and a number of Connecticut citizens have been conned out of thousands of dollars.
According to the Department of Consumer Protection's Gaming Division, the scammers have altered losing lottery tickets to make them appear like big winners. Once contact is made they feed their victims stories about why they are unable to cash the ticket and offer to sell it for a fraction of the alleged value.
Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein said: "We have already received several complaints from victims who bought these tickets for between $500 and $2,000, believing that they could cash them in for the winning prize of $20,000."
