Scam
Alert On Lottery Scam Allegedly From Costa
Rica
In the Star-Telegram "Watchdog" Fort Worth,
Texas, column, Dave Lieber recounts how an
86-year-old man did the right thing by not
getting hooked in by lottery scammers again.
For more than a year, George Kahak has
followed my request that he call me before
investing any more money in get-rich
schemes. The 86-year-old former chief pilot
for American Airlines is a compulsive scam
victim. He's lost tens of thousands of
dollars in dozens of scams.
The other day, he called to say that he won
us$500,000 in a lottery and that the contest
promoters were coming over to his house to
explain the details.
Turns out, they didn't visit. They called
instead. I was there. That's how I got to
talk to Inspector Luigi.
He called Kahak. I took the phone and
explained that Kahak was hard of hearing and
that I was there to help him.
"My name is Inspector Luigi Azarelo, and I
work with the U.S. Customs Department" at
Miami Airport.
"I was the federal agent in charge of an
investigation on a package he has here right
now at the airport. I did confirm with the
Federal Trade Commission directly with the
consumer protection program that the sender
is registered as a sweepstakes company out
of Vegas.
"We receive about 100 packages a day just
like this every day, and 98 percent are not
for real. We just send them back because
they have fraudulent activity."
The rest, he said, are "100 percent for
real."
"The only thing — this package I'm holding
here to be released [has] pending duties and
tariffs that were not paid when this package
got registered down in Costa Rica.
"Even though I'm sure the package is legit,
my job is to send it back. What I do now is
I just take two minutes out of my day to
make a courtesy call to the owner of the
package. Maybe if you wanted to go ahead and
claim it, I can give you information on how
to claim it. If not, I'll just go ahead and
send it back. It's really the same to me."
I said, "Let me get a pencil."
The cost for "customs duties and tariffs"
was $1,500.
"What's in the package?" I asked.
"Oh, a check for a total of $495,000."
"For what exactly?"
He said the sweepstakes company was
authentic. He had confirmed that with the
Federal Trade Commission.
"This is coming from Costa Rica. I'm pretty
sure you know that all the sweepstakes
companies have their money offshore. Every
time you win money, it's totally free of
taxes because they keep their money
offshore. That's why when he receives that
money, he will not be paying taxes on it."
I offered to bring the payment to a U.S.
Customs and Border Protection office in
Texas. But he didn't like that idea.
"I recommend you use Western Union. They
take cash. They will give you a receipt with
a 10-digit control number. You need to call
me back with that number. As soon as I get
in contact with the people down in Costa
Rica and they confirm that it was sent, I'll
be sending the package.
"Now you know I'm located at the Miami
Airport. So I do have flights to Texas every
25 minutes. It will be a matter of a few
hours before you have the package in your
hand. Sounds good?"
He said to send $1,595 to Armando Lopez-Canteno,
1801 Central Ave., San Jose, Costa Rica.
Then he promised to call back with
information about the flight delivering the
package to Texas.
"Let me ask you, sir. How long do you think
it's going to take? Because I do have to
schedule the flight for you."
That moment, Kahak's clock, beside the
phone, began to chime on the hour mark. The
sound disrupted the call until I said,
"That's perfect. My alarm is about to go off
on you."
I told Inspector Luigi that I work as The
Watchdog at the Star-Telegram and that I
often write about "guys like you."
My schedule? I explained that I would share
his story with you in today's column.
Then I asked something I always wanted to
know: Why would a good communicator like him
waste his skills on hurting the elderly?
"What are you talking about, sir?" he asked.
I said I was certain he was not who he said
he was. There was no contest. He lied.
"Sir, you've got to be careful. You're
talking to a federal agent. . . . I'm
located on Concourse J, up on the third
level, OK? You want to look for me, look
around. If you don't, just lose your
package."
He hung up.
A few days later, I called again. Inspector
Luigi picked up. I recognized his voice.
"We got cut off last week," I said.
"Let me transfer you," he said. "Just one
second."
The call was disconnected.
Called back. Same guy. But not according to
him.
"He's out of the terminal," he insisted.
"Can I have you call him back?"
Whatever.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its
officers never notify an individual by phone
and demand payment on a foreign lottery
prize. There is no duty on currency or
monetary instruments imported into the
United States.
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