Fair Haven (WSYR-TV) -- Two million dollars and a brand new Mercedes certainly sounds enticing, but if it’s offered to you over the phone, and you’re told to pay thousands of dollars as a security deposit – be forewarned, it’s a scam.
Unfortunately, one woman in Fair Haven learned that lesson too late. NewsChannel 9 has “The Real Deal” on the latest telephone scam that may be targeting elderly women.
Carole Zukovsky has a list of all the organizations she was going to donate to with the $2 million she thought she was receiving -- starting with $50,000 to her church and the Red Cross.
“I've heard of people you know, watching television or whatever, in different kinds of scams. But I've never ever heard of anything like this before in my whole life,” Zukovsky said.
The scammers told her all she had to do was send installments of a few hundred dollars every few weeks for a security deposit.
Since January, she's sent a total of $975. The next check the scammers wanted was for $10,000. Zukovsky even tried to borrow the money from her bank.
“Once I paid them the $10,000 then I was going to get the money!” she said.
Zukovsky says the scammers sounded believable. So NewsChannel 9 decided to call the person Zukovsky has been writing the checks to.
The scammers half heartedly told us they would send her money back to her, but the Cayuga County Sheriff's Department says it’s unlikely. Her $975 is lost and she definitely won't see the two million.
If you think you've been scammed, you should file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, State Attorney General’s Office, and your local sheriffs department to prevent others from falling into the same trap.
