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The promise of a jackpot can make anyone dream big — but for one Florida woman, chasing a winning Florida Lottery ticket turned into a nightmare she'll never forget. It all started with a seemingly innocent request to help claim an alleged lottery prize, which quickly spiraled into a scary ordeal involving deception, a demand for $2,000, and a gunpoint robbery that left the victim stranded and shaken.
Now officials say the suspects used a sophisticated scam that has duped many victims across the country, preying on their kindness and trust. As investigators continue to work to unravel the details, they are warning people that when it comes to lottery wins, if it sounds too good to be true, it just might be.
The incident
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, a 58-year-old woman from Belle Glade said she got into a vehicle with two people because she was trying to help a man, who claimed he didn't have immigration papers and was trying to claim a lottery prize for an unspecified amount.
The woman told police the two suspects approached her separately while at a Winn-Dixie in Belle Glade. After getting in the vehicle, they were driving around, and the victim heard one of the suspects on the phone with another unknown individual. That person allegedly informed the suspect that they had a winning lottery ticket.
The suspects then drove to a Papa John's, where one of the suspects allegedly claimed she got $7,000 from a cleaning business. The suspects then asked the victim to get more money.
The victim was able to borrow the $2,000 from her sister, so the suspects allegedly drove her to her sister's house to get the cash. Once she was back in the vehicle with the money, police said the suspects put a gun to the victim's head, stole the money, and then threw her out of the vehicle.
'Latin Lotto' scam
During the investigation, officials determined this incident had similarities to a common scam seen around the country called “Latin Lotto.”
For this scam, police said it's a theft by fraud or robbery, but the perpetrators misrepresent a lottery ticket as a winning ticket. From there, the perpetrators tell the victim they can't cash the ticket. They give different reasons for each incident, but they most commonly use the immigration status excuse.
The perpetrators then offer to share the lottery winnings with them if the victim cashes the ticket. The perpetrators then tell the victim they need to provide them with some sort of collateral, like money or jewelry, to guarantee that the victim will return with the perpetrator's share of the winnings.
During the interaction, the perpetrators will often contact a third party who misrepresents themselves as an attorney. The perpetrators will often flee the scene once they have the victim's money, and they sometimes have to use force to get it from the victims.
An arrest was made
For this Florida victim, authorities said they used phone records and GPS data from a rental car company to find and arrest the suspects, Mauricio Gomez Cardona and Greisy Pinzon Camargo.
Officials obtained CCTV footage from the area, which reportedly showed the suspects potentially trying to find other victims in other parking lots.
Cardona and Camargo were arrested and charged with kidnapping and robbery with a firearm, officials said.
Enjoy playing the Florida Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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