Sioux Falls Man Sends $12,000 to Scammer

Sioux Falls Police Officer Sam Clemens says a 57-year-old man received a phone call Monday telling him he had won two million dollars, a new car and a television. But, there was a catch.

"The Sioux Falls man started talking to these people. They convinced him to send cash. Ultimately, he sent them around 12 thousand dollars in cash. They explained he had to pay fees and taxes---that's really what they needed the money for before they would release the prizes to him."

Clemens says right now Sioux Falls police are trying to find the culprits.

'It was at least four different times he sent money to these people. The good thing is he sent money inside the U.S. so we have addresses. We are working to find out who these people are."

Clemens says most phone scams don't involve cash.

"Most of the scams we see is people want wired money or credit cards reloadable. They fill out those things when you give them numbers of the phone. Those are virtually untraceable. They can be redeemed anywhere in the world. This case is very unusual---requesting cash and the victim actually had that amount of cash to be able to send to them."

The bottom line Clemens says: if it sounds to good too be true, it probably is!

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