Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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November 4, 2009

Attempts made to scam Murchison man

By Robby Robertson Staff Writer

Another money scam has be circulating around the U.S., and has made it’s way to Henderson County.

Patrick Hancock of Murchison received a notification in the mail that he was one of 20 people that were winners of the grand prize of $5,000,000. That would be $250,000 for him.

He was told he would receive a check for $3,980 in the next few days, and there would be instructions of what to do to get the rest of the money.

“I was kind of shocked,” Hancock said. “I sign up for different things on the Internet, so I thought this might have been from something I may have signed up for.”

A few days later Hancock received the check in the mail, and he was even more amazed. What threw up a red flag for him was the instructions that came with it.

“This was a live check,” he said. “I mean it didn’t have void on it, or anything that would lead you to believe it was a fake. It was drawn on a real bank.”

Hancock Goggled the company that awards the winnings, and the business had a Website. The site said they were located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The letter that came with the check told him to call a phone number, and talk with Lewis McGregor. He would give out a Western Union number.

“He said to take $2,995, and go to the nearest Western Union, and send it to the address listed,” Hancock said. “He said this would take care of the taxes on the winnings.

“What caught my attention first was the person I talked with (Lewis McGregor) was an Iranian,” Hancock said. “I don’t know too many Iranians who are named Lewis McGregor.”

Hancock then called the bank that was listed on the check, and asked if there were funds for this account.

“They told me there had been 100s of calls on this account, and that there was no such account,” he said. “I know there have been so many people who have been robbed by this across the country.”

He said with the checks looking so real, he figures a lot of people may have taken it at face value, and deposited the check, and then sent these people a check out of their personal account.

“By the time their personal check goes through, the check they deposited will come back bad,” he said. “This is one of those scams that can really take people for a lot of money.

“I really feel like they have probably scammed a lot of people.”

When Hancock called back to the number on the letter, and he asked for McGregor again, and then inquired as to why the bank didn’t have a listing of this account, he was put on hold and then disconnected.

“I just want to make people aware of these types of scams,” Hancock said. “I do sign up for different things on the Internet, but I never do anything that involves money without looking into it very carefully.

“One of the best things to remember is, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

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