After deceiving a woman in Florida into believing she had won $3 million, scammers took $400,000 from her bank account.
Only around $40,000 of the money was recovered by police when they detained Michael Lawrence and Max Richards in relation to the scam, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a press conference on Friday, as reported by Fox 13.
According to court documents, Lawrence and Richards are accused with first-degree theft and fraud scheme.
The 70-year-old Judd is well-known on the internet for his raucous press conferences during which he divulges details on the individuals whom the Polk County Sheriff’s Office apprehends.
Judd stated during the news conference on Friday that the con artists preyed on an elderly woman who was showing early symptoms of dementia. According to Judd, they informed her that she had won $3 million in a Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes and that she would have to pay taxes.
By the end, she had written three separate checks totaling $477,000 to Lawrence and Richards, according to Judd.
A representative for Lawrence did not respond to Business Insider’s inquiry for comment right away. Court documents did not make it apparent if Richards had legal representation.
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According to the Federal Trade Commission, seeing what the person offering the money asks you to do next is the best indicator of a sweepstakes fraud. According to the agency, it’s probably a fraud if they try to convince you to give them your account information or give them money.
“If someone tells you to pay a fee for ‘taxes,’ ‘shipping and handling charges,’ or ‘processing fees’ to get your prize, you’re dealing with a scammer,” the agency cautioned.
The FTC advises contacting the company you transferred money through to see if they can assist in recovering the funds if you do end up paying a fraudster.
During the news conference, Polk stated that it is frequently impossible to recover money stolen in frauds. Only about $40,000 of the woman’s money was recovered, according to the sheriff’s office, he added.
“You go obtain subpoenas and then the bank takes their time about getting data back, the money is gone, long gone,” Judd stated.
Lawrence did not have a scheduled hearing on the court calendar at the time of his Friday appearance.
