The Scott County Sheriff's Office would like to warn its citizens of yet another phone scam. This one was received by Sheriff Conard. The caller identified themselves as Mary Lee from Publishers Clearing House and that he had won $950,000 and a Mercedes Benz. The money and the vehicle were here in Iowa for him to claim. All he had to do to claim the prize was pay the 1% tax on the money for $399. He was to go to Western Union and get a money order in that amount.

This is another prize scam where the potential victims are told they won large sums of money, but there is a processing fee/tax fee/administrative fee needed before victims can claim their prize. Anytime someone would ask you for a money order, pre-paid card of some type for services or prize is a scam. Please do not fall victim to this scam. Suspects are counting on the excitement of the news to not let you think this through which is called pretexting.