25 November 2023 , 07:00
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Scammers have been swindling their victims by pretending to be a couple who won $316million (£258million) on the lottery.
Tammy and Cliff Webster, from Oneida, Wisconsin split the more than $630million Powerball jackpot with another winner in California after their huge win last year. But now scammers are using the couple's luck to try and make their schemes more believable.
One fraudulent message states the couple are donating $150,000 to 100 random people. Another claims they are donating $120,000 to 50 random people, including the recipient of the text.
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Anyone who replies to the message is then asked for more details, such as their name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address and monthly income. In some cases, people gave up information like a driver's license or social security number.
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Those who followed through with the instructions have reported being scammed out of thousands, reports The US Sun. "Wouldn't we like to live in a world where Tammy and Cliff were sharing their million-dollar lottery winnings," Administrator for the Wisconsin Division of Trade and Consumer Protection Lara Sutherlin said, as per NBC26.
Scammers tried to take millions from Tammy and Cliff (Wisconsin Lottery/YouTube)"This is a basic fishing attempt and they take all different forms. They usually come in the form of an email or a text.
"They partner it with real facts and real time about something that's happening to give it that air of truth. And then they send out thousands of these." Sutherlin added: "They get a little bit of information from here, they get another little bit of information from there, and they put it all together."
Tammy and Cliff found out about their huge lottery win while watching the new as Tammy got ready for work at 4.30am. "We're hugging and yelling and it was one of the happiest moments of my life," Cliff said at the time.
Tammy added: "We are very happy about this and I want to thank grandfather, to Creator God, for giving us this great gift. Anybody could win. Just be thankful for what you have and be happy and maybe good things will come because it came for us."