CAMDEN TWP. — Carol Matcham thought the call was a godsend — she’d won $500,000 in the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

To get the money, she just needed to clear up some tax liabilities, the caller told her, so she got a $4,200 money order and sent it to an address in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Three weeks later, Matcham, 69, is a little red-faced.

The call was a fraud, and she’s probably out the money, according to the Lorain County Sheriff’s and the Ohio Attorney General’s offices.

An investigation shows phone numbers that Matcham called have been linked to scams, said sheriff’s Deputy Mike Folley. Plus, a female “lawyer” whom Matcham talked to — supposedly in Albany, N.Y. — is always unavailable when Folley calls.

At least Matcham said she did not send the woman, who identified herself as Joanne Thomas, any more money.

She said Thomas told her she had won the $500,000 but would have to pay $127,000 in taxes — unless Matcham took advantage of Thomas’ expertise.

“She said she would cut me a real good deal on taxes — $67,500 — but I would have to come up with $4,200 upfront,” Matcham said.

A few days later, Thomas called to say she needed to send more money.

Matcham went to the bank, only to have a teller tell her, “Please don’t tell me you won the sweepstakes.”

The Sheriff’s Department began investigating, and Folley prepared a police report that will be forwarded to Ohio Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers and to the FBI. Unfortunately, he is not very hopeful the money can be recovered, because it has left the country.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Heath Tester said the Sheriff’s Office has been getting two or three complaints a week about Internet or telemarketing scams. For example, some of the scams alert individuals that they have won $50,000 in the Canadian Lottery and just need to send $8,000 to cover the taxes.

Sadly, these kinds of crimes happen a lot, and the victims are often too embarrassed to talk about them, he said.

Not Matcham, who decided to speak up to help others.

“It’s very embarrassing, but I don’t want someone else to get hurt,” she said.

She’s already talked about her experience to a group at Brighton United Methodist Church.

Matcham said the woman who scammed her was very personable and told her she would help her over “bumps in the road.”

“She said, ‘Now don’t get upset, I’m going to come out and we’ll have a nice meal and be the best of friends,’” Matcham said.

“If this woman has to make a living by taking advantage of people, I think she needs God’s help more than I do,” she said.

Matcham said she probably feared telling her son about losing the money more than anybody. But he took it in stride and jokingly telephoned his Mom to tell her that she had won a prize, she said.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

 

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