Being told that you won the lottery is usually not how you find out that you won the lottery. In other words, winnings are usually determined by a scratch off ticket OR by hearing the winning lottery numbers in the media. A Murfreesboro man evidently thought that he had won nearly $7,000 when he received a phone call on Wednesday.

The victim eventually called the authorities after a man who claimed to be “David Harger” called him and told him he had just won the money, but needed to pay tax on the winnings before he could claim the cash. The caller suggested the only way to pay the tax on the winnings was to buy a "Money Pak" card and to place $1,500 on it. The subject told the victim to call him back after the card was purchased... he did just that.

The victim fell for the scam and called the con-artist back, giving him the numbers on the card. The victim realized it was a hoax when the caller told him he still owed $600. Well, it took some convincing - - The man took a taxi to the bank and the cabbie warned the victim not to pay anymore money to the caller and instead call the police. A phone call to the M-P-D confirmed what the taxi driver suggested, that the whole thing was a scam.

The 83-year old victim is now out $1,500 and no arrests have been made.

Source:

MPD Incident #14-434