Birmingham Resident Loses $48,000 in Email, Phone Scam

Birmingham Police are letting residents know: if a stranger asks you for money either via email or over the phone, it's a scam.

The warning comes after a Birmingham resident living on Lake Park was recently conned out of almost $48,000 as part of an email and phone scam.

According to police reports, the man first received an email telling him he had won $2.4 million and a brand new Mercedez-Benz from the American Sweepstakes Commission.

Then, police say the man received a phone call from a man with a heavy accent, telling him he must pay certain taxes and fees before receiving his money. Police say a reverse phone search revealed the call originally came from Kingston, Jamaica.

In addition, a search of the American Sweepstakes Commission reveals a history of complaints and suspicions of fraud. The company, listed as being based in Washington, D.C., is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

Birmingham Police alerted residents to another wave of phone scams in mid-November. In that case, several residents received phone calls from someone claiming to be a New York Police Department detective, telling them they were suspects or witnesses in a civil fraud case.