An elderly Oconee County woman was recently scammed out of $80,000 after she thought she had won a large amount of money as a prize.
The Athens Banner-Herald reported the 80-year-old woman mailed cash to the scammers three separate times over three weeks.
The Oconee County Sheriff's Office was working to determine where the money was sent as of the last report.
The woman reportedly told deputies she had received a message from someone who claimed to be her brother-in-law. The scammer told the woman she could collect her prize money on a website, which asked the woman to mail $20,000 to an address. The Athens Banner-Herald said the report from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office did not explain why sending cash was needed to collect the prize money.
The woman reportedly sent the cash on June 23, and then sent another $15,000 in cash on June 28. Scammers called the woman and said that the prize money was being shipped by FedEx in a truck that was burned in an arson. The scammers said the fire department had the prize money, and they needed an additional $45,000 to release the money. She reportedly sent the $45,000 on July 12.
The woman was contacted by the scammers again on July 16, at which time they requested her bank account number. The woman called her brother-in-law, who told her he had never reached out to her about the website.
