MIAMI, Fla. – Imagine a phone call where the person on the other end of the phone says you've just won $5 million. It's one of the most popular scams targeting senior citizens and it happened to a Miami woman.
"I thought you dirty rotten people," said the scam victim, who doesn't want to be identified out of fear she will be targeted again.
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That was her reaction when she learned she was a victim of a sweepstakes scheme that cost her half of her life-savings.
"They called me on the telephone and told me we had won something," she added.
They told her she won a $5 million jackpot, but to collect it, she was told she needed to pay the fees and taxes. The first payment was $500.
"Like a dummy I paid them money on the Green Dot card," she said.
Postal inspectors say Green Dot cards are a popular component in lottery schemes.
Victims are asked to put money on the card and then give the scammers the number on the back.
"As soon as they have that special code, that special number, they can immediately load that money from the card to a card they have in Jamaica," said U.S. Postal Inspector Alexandra Papageorge.
The money is gone. And in this case, this victim lost more than $70,000.
"They were mainly friendly…. just a friend talking to another friend," the victim said.
"Act like they are their best friend, try to remember their birthdays and find out all of those personal details that will allow them to compromise their identity even worse," explained Papageorge.
The scammers were relentless calling the victim almost 40 times a day. They didn't stop there.
"Somehow they got her number to her vehicle. So, when they couldn't' get through to her home - they called her OnStar system in her car," said Papageorge.
Postal inspectors were able to successfully change her phone number. Meantime, they are warning every family with an elderly parent should be on the lookout for this scam.
"Sometimes maybe somebody is just starting dementia, maybe they are alone most of the time, so these scammers actually prey on the fact that the senior lives alone," said Papageorge.
And when they do, postal inspectors say many of the victims don't feel comfortable talking about it out of fear of losing their financial freedom.