The Sunnyvale Sun

News

Lottery scam artists at it again

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officers are again looking for information on lottery scammers that took advantage of a local resident in September.

On Sept. 29, a Hispanic male, 30 to 35 years old, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing around 175 pounds, approached a man in a Costco parking lot claiming to have a winning lottery ticket.

The unknown man was then joined by a Caucasian man, 5 feet 11 inches tall, around 185 pounds. The first man said he could not claim the ticket because he was not a legal resident, and the two men then convinced the victim to give them "good faith" money in exchange for a portion of the winnings.

After the victim withdrew money from a bank and gave it to the two unknown men, they disappeared.

This is not the first time a scam like this has hit Sunnyvale. In November 2005, two women got money from an elderly couple in a similar fashion, and a month later, a Hispanic man matching the first suspect's description carried out the same scam. In that case, as well as a similar case in Cupertino, the victims were East Indian men.

Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger said the city believes the scammers are targeting East Indian men, but said it could be coincidence.

Representatives from the India Community Center in Sunnyvale said they had not heard about the scams, but were confident members of Sunnyvale's community would be vigilant.

Anyone with information on the suspect's identity should call det. Eric Suzuki at 408.730.7130 or leave an anonymous tip at 408.245.3784.