Sweepstakes scam makes a comeback


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SALT LAKE CITY — A scam that tells people they have won a Reader’s Digest sweepstakes is making the rounds again in Utah.

The scammers want people to give them money to claim the prize.

Ann Jamison got the call from "Reader's Digest." She was the big winner in this month's sweepstakes contest.

“I had won $395,000,” she said.

But Jamison had not entered any contest.

“He said, ‘Oh, you probably entered at your local market or maybe it was because you paid all your bills on time,’ ” Jamison said.

Jane Driggs with the Better Business Bureau of Utah said, “Scammers will usually tell you you’ve forgotten you entered, or you’ve entered at some store, and they usually have a great line that makes you think you did enter.”

Driggs said the BBB is seeing a resurgence of residents getting calls from bogus "Reader's Digest" representatives.

“Reader’s Digest is a well-known company. So naturally people think that when someone calls you, it’s a legitimate sweepstakes winning,” Driggs explained.

Jamison said the man who called her sounded bogus from the start.

“Each sentence he would say, ‘OK,’ as though he was trying to get me to validate his lies,” she said.

Her suspicion was confirmed when she asked what she had to do to claim her $395,000.

“He said, ‘Oh, well we just need to pay a couple of fees,’ ” she said.

“It’s how they win,” Driggs said. “They get your money. You get nothing.”

People who really win a sweepstakes won't be told to pay fees up front. Nobody does that except crooks.

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Bill Gephardt

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