(WWJ) — Michigan State Police officials say there’s a new scam targeting the Michigan Lottery in the Upper Peninsula.
There’s been a recent increase in fraudulent activity involving stolen credit cards and scratch-off lottery tickets in the U.P. and Lower Peninsula, MSP officials said in a press release Friday.
The MSP Eight District is investigating some of the complaints, including several in the Escanaba area, officials said, noting related cases are also being investigated in Wisconsin and Nebraska.
In an effort to “alert businesses and help them take steps to protect themselves,” MSP released the following information on how the scam “typically unfolds.”
• A subject or subjects posing as a customer(s) will attempt to purchase a large quantity of lottery scratch-off tickets using a credit card.
• The subject(s) may attempt to conceal their identity by wearing face masks.
• They tell the cashier that the card swipe or chip isn’t working and ask if they can manually enter the credit card information to complete the transaction.
• Once the cashier manually enters the card numbers and processes the sale, the subject takes the scratch-offs and then quickly cashes in any winning tickets.
• Unfortunately, the store may not realize the credit card was stolen until it’s too late, and the fraudulent charges go unnoticed.
MSP officials said businesses can take the following precautions to protect themselves:
• Be cautious if a customer requests to purchase large quantities of scratch-off lottery tickets.
• Do not process card information manually.
• Limit the amount of lottery tickets that can be purchased.
• If they are paying with a card, ensure the transaction is completed in the usual way and that the card is properly swiped.
• Double-check the card’s legitimacy if anything seems off during the transaction.
• Report any suspicious activity immediately to law enforcement.