89-Year-Old Woman Conned Out of $70K in Lottery Scam

An 89-year-old woman in Hillsborough was defrauded out of $70,000 in an international lottery scam that was being operated out of Vancouver, Canada, police said Tuesday.

The woman had been called several times by two scam artists claiming to represent the Australian Government Lottery, according to Hillsborough police.

The woman was told that she had won more than $18 million, but in order to claim the winnings, she would be required to open a Swiss bank account with a minimum deposit of $120,000 to shelter the money, police said.

The victim wired $70,000 to a bank specified by the suspects, which was located in Vancouver, British Colombia.

Hillsborough police and Vancouver police worked with local banks and uncovered an "immense fraud operation" that reached far beyond the victim from the Bay Area, police said.

Vancouver police have arrested three suspects accused of running the scam operation, police said.

-- Bay City News

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