Employees foil lottery scam

When an elderly couple in Brownstown, IN, went to the Post Office and asked to purchase $4,000 in international money orders, Retail Associates Monique Nicholson and Marjie Rotert suspected a fraud and asked Postmaster Ron Rieckers to intervene.

The couple didn’t know the person who had asked for the money orders. Posing as a lottery representative, the thief told the couple the money was needed to pay a tax before they could receive their prize. The victims also acknowledged they had previously sent the person $11,000.

Rieckers told the couple he believed they were being scammed. But they insisted on purchasing the money orders. Later, Rieckers spoke with Indianapolis Postal Inspector Eddy Boucher, who also explained to the couple that their lottery winnings were bogus.

The story has a happy ending — the couple had a change of heart and returned to the Brownstown Post Office to cash in the money orders. They credit their deci­sion to Rieckers, his staff and the Postal Inspection Ser­vice, without whom they might have made a second major mistake.

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