Shutterstock
HARLEM — An anonymous caller scammed an 80-year-old woman out of $8,500 by claiming she'd won a lottery jackpot, police said.
The East Harlem resident was called at noon on Oct. 5 and told she'd won an undisclosed amount from the state lottery. The caller said she had to pay $8,500 in "shipping costs."
The resident said she did not have the money to pay for the shipping. The anonymous caller mailed her a check made out for $8,500 and told her to deposit it into her bank account, then write another for the same amount and send it back, police said.
The check the caller sent soon bounced, police said.
