Authorities have put a stop to an elaborate fake lottery scam running out
of Florida. A 26-year-old man named Delroy Drummond plead guilty to conspiracy
to commit wire and mail fraud.
According to documents Drummond, along with others, called people, mainly
the elderly, all over the country telling them they’ve won millions
in lottery prize money. The only catch was that the “winners”
needed to wire or send a few thousands of dollars to pay for taxes before
they could claim the prize money.
Drummond and his team collected around $500,000 between April and December
of 2015 before they were caught. His sentencing will be on May 31.
Wire and mail fraud are serious crimes in Florida. Both involve the intentional
deception of a person or entity by another for personal or financial gain.
The difference between the two is that mail fraud requires assets to be
transferred using a mail carrier, while wire fraud deals with assets transferred
via the internet, phone or other electronic devices.
Assets normally transferred in fraud cases include money, property, or services.
A wide range of schemes and scams fall under fraud laws including, pyramid
schemes, Ponzi schemes, emails from foreign princes, and many more. The
penalty for wire and mail is up to 20 years in jail and hefty fines.
Both wire and mail fraud are under the larger umbrella known as white collar
crimes, which also includes embezzlement, money laundering, and identity
theft. Over the past several years, there’s been a surge in white
collar crimes across the country. Identity theft has seen a sharp increase
in particular.