It appears the lottery scam has taken on a new twist in recent months with police in the US advising citizens to be on the lookout for the new tactics being used by the scammers.
Police in Wisconsin have been warning persons to beware of a scam stemming from Jamaica which involves Green Dot credit cards.
Police Chief of Eagle River, Mark Vander Bloomen has labelled the Green Dot scam as the same old gimmick with a new spin.
The scam involves victims receiving phone calls reporting they have won a prize such as a large amount of cash or a new car.
However, to receive the prize they are told to purchase a Green Dot pre-paid credit card, and call back the scammer.
When they call back, the scammers have the victims read the numbers off to them purportedly so they can verify that it is a real credit card.
Once they have the numbers they then use the card for their own purchases.
The police chief has told residents of Wisconsin to watch out for numbers they are not familiar with, especially those with area code 876.
Local law enforcement officials recently revealed they were holding discussions with external partners with a view to extraditing lottery scammers to other jurisdictions with stiffer penalties for such crimes.
The police said the talks were being held in light of the fact that many victims of the scam live abroad.
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