Wisconsin Woman Taken in 'Lottery' Scam
Wisconsin state police say an 84-year-old woman who wired $5,000 to Costa Rica after she was told she'd won a $3.5 million lottery probably never will see any winnings or her money.

The Janesville woman told police Friday that she'd received a call June 11 from American Direct Sweepstakes saying she'd won a $35,000 lottery but needed to wire them $900 to pay taxes and tariffs on her winnings.

That afternoon, the woman sent $900 through Western Union to San José, Costa Rica.

Four days later, the woman received a letter saying there had been a mistake and that she'd actually won $3.5 million, but she needed to send an addition $1,100 to pay taxes and tariffs.

That afternoon, she sent $1,100 more to San José, Costa Rica.

The following day, the woman received a phone call from American Direct Sweepstakes. The caller told the woman there had been a problem at the U.S. border, and she needed to send an additional $3,000 to receive her winnings.

At 4:30 p.m. June 16, the woman sent another $3,000 through Western Union to San José, Costa Rica.

On Friday, the woman still had no winnings, and she called police.

An officer told her that she had been the victim of a scam, warned her not to send any more money to American Direct Sweepstakes and told her to ignore any other calls or letters saying that she'd won a lottery.

The officer also called the woman's son, who said he would call his mother's bank to see if he can prevent her from being victimized in the future.