A Middle Tennessee woman received a call from someone pretending to work for the Better Business Bureau who claimed she had won $3.5 million.
The caller told the woman to buy a Green Dot prepaid card at a nearby convenience store to collect her winnings. She recognized the request as suspicious and ended the call.
The BBB serving Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky confirmed the call was a scam. The phone number was linked to a Voice over Internet Protocol service, which can make it difficult to trace callers.
“Scammers often use the names of trusted organizations to make their stories sound convincing,” said Robyn Householder, president and CEO of BBB serving Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. “BBB does not call people to announce unexpected lottery winnings or require consumers to purchase prepaid cards to collect a prize.”
Scammers often claim people have won a lottery or sweepstakes and then demand payment through a prepaid gift card. Once the money is sent, it can be difficult to recover.
The BBB recommends that consumers never pay money to claim a prize, avoid sharing gift card numbers or PINs, and verify unexpected calls using contact information from an organization’s official website.
Consumers can report scams through the BBB Scam Tracker at https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker.
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