RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina woman got a call saying she won millions of dollars and a car. All she had to do was pay the taxes. So she sent the money but when she told the conmen she ran out of money, they got creative.
U.S. Postal Inspector, Mike Carroll told Consumer Alert, the victim was convinced to get a reverse by the scammers and sent all of that money to them.
Family said they tried to keep her from getting the calls, but conmen found a way around it. They said Green taxi company showed up at her house with a message.
"We would tell them, look you need to go. In my mind, I'm thinking since when do taxis deliver messages?" family said.
One of the scammers showed up at the house bringing the woman a cell phone.
It didn't stop there, the victim became a so-called money mule and conmen funneled money through her. In all, she lost more than $100,000. So her family called an intervention.
Postal Inspectors say foreign lottery scams are depleting older Americans savings accounts.
"We know that there is at least a billion dollars a year being funneled out of our country from victims of this time of scam. If you are between the ages of 55 and 64 you are twice as likely to fall for a scam like this, and once you hit 65 you are three times as likely to fall for this type of scam," Carroll said.