Customs officials in Vermont reported at least five inquiries within the last week from individuals who were contacted by con artists claiming to be Customs officers. Typically, a telephone call is placed from Canada to the United States from a person identifying himself as a Customs officer in Vermont. The caller advises the target that they have won the Canadian sweepstakes and that a check is made out to them ready to be picked up. The caller then informs the target that before they can pick up the check they must first pay a duty or transfer fee. The caller asks the target to wire money to an address in Canada to release the funds.
Targets often are seniors who have substantial bank accounts.
To a con artist, the ideal prospective victim is a senior who makes it a regular habit of mailing in sweepstakes entries. Telemarketers try to use the good name of the U.S. Customs Service to swindle senior citizens out of their life's savings. No U.S. Customs official will ever call a person over the phone to demand duty payments to claim a foreign lottery prize. In many cases, con artists disguise their operations as telemarketers and buy phone lists of seniors from legitimate data collection firms. Customs, along with the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, continues to investigate the matter but warn that telephone scammers are difficult to catch.